No ban for teacher found over limit after crash

A teacher has avoided a ban from the profession after a panel heard she was involved in a crash, drove her damaged car to school and was found to be about three times over the drink-driving limit.

Siobhan Clarke arrived at the Priory Academy LSST in Lincoln in her "crumpled" car with a cracked windscreen and deflated airbags in January 2023, the Teaching Regulation Agency panel was told.

The school's headteacher called the police after they found the maths teacher "seemed very muddled" and smelled of alcohol.

However, the panel heard Mrs Clarke was remorseful and found it had been "a one-off incident".

Mrs Clarke drove to the school after being involved in a crash with a colleague on the way to work, the panel heard. Police arrived and breathalysed her.

She was then arrested and taken to a police station where she failed to provide a second breath sample.

Following a guilty plea, she was convicted of failing to provide a specimen and disqualified from driving for 12 months, the hearing was told.

The colleague she crashed into said they had stopped at traffic lights at a pedestrian crossing.

As the lights turned green, a car "hit the rear of their vehicle", the hearing was told.

The colleague did not think Mrs Clarke would be able to drive her car away because it was "very crumpled and... the air bags had gone off".

Mrs Clarke "appeared very confused, she kept repeating herself and wasn't finishing her sentences", the colleague told the panel.

"As she was talking she was slurring her words."

Mrs Clarke was employed as a maths teacher from September 2014, having previously worked at the school as a learning assistant.

She resigned after the incident, telling the panel she was "immensely sorry" for her actions.

The panel reported that it was satisfied that Mrs Clarke was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct. It also found that her actions "constituted conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".

However, it also found that Mrs Clarke had expressed remorse and there was no evidence of a risk of repetition of the incident.

David Oatley, on behalf of the secretary of state, agreed with the panel's finding that a prohibition order was not proportionate and Mrs Clarke was not banned from teaching.

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