A teacher in the UK has been handed a three-year teaching ban after reportedly repeatedly going to school drunk or hungover before making lewd comments at pupils.
64-year-old Jeremy Tucker was based in a school in Lincoln before serious concerns raised by pupils, staff and parents over his apparent alcohol-influenced behaviour prompted his departure.
During a hearing held by the Teaching Regulation Authority, it was heard that Mr Tucker would often arrive at the school bearing a dishevelled appearance, smelling of alcohol and having bloodshot eyes.
It was heard that his apparent drinking problem was so acute that he stored aftershave, mints and chewing gum on his desk, while he was known to chew on raw garlic bulbs when teaching department officials came to visit the school.
Bottles of vodka were reported to have been found in a golf bag in the PE store.
On one occasion Mr Tucker's appearance was so bedraggled that a pupil was reported to have said "‘I am not being funny... but you looked chunked out of your bean."
The hearing heard a deeply concerning incident in which the teacher was understood to have said "Hey miss, you’ve got big t**s and I’d love to suck on them" when providing an example of sexual harassment during a school assembly.
The teacher, who was also accused of flipping tables and hurling verbal abuse at students, claims he cannot remember many of the reported incidents.
An official report also mentions that it was claimed that Mr Tucker said a female student had a "smaller arsehole", while another student was threatened with words to the effect of “I’m going to knock your head off and sh** down your throat."
Tucker left his role as a teacher at Acorn Free School in 2019.
In conclusion, members of the hearing panel said they were of the view that "Mr Tucker was trying to uphold the standards within the school and make improvements" however, "the findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include findings of engaging in unprofessional behaviour by, on one or more occasions, attending the school while you were under the influence of alcohol and/or smelt of alcohol and making one or more inappropriate comments towards and/or in the presence of pupils."
Issuing the indefinite prohibition order, the panel stated that Mr Tucker's conduct "fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession."
