Copyright scotsman
A Scots primary teacher faked her own death after a two-year cancer con during which she wore a wig and a prosthetic leg. During her astonishing deception she claimed to have had part of her lung removed, came to school in a wheelchair she did not need, wore a false nasal cannula and used crutches. Sympathetic colleagues took pupils to a helipad to wave at an air ambulance in which she claimed to be travelling. They also took gifts to a hospice the teacher said she was staying in for respite care. The teacher told her class she had six months to live, was having a rushed wedding and bought a child a bridesmaid’s dress. Details of the elaborate ruse have been shared by the Scottish teaching watchdog after the woman, whose anonymity has been protected, was removed from the professional register. Fellow teachers are said to have been left stunned by the length and severity of the ruse but last night declined to talk. In May 2021, the teacher told two colleagues she had just taken a call during which she was told she had leukaemia. She then pretended to have started chemotherapy and the following month claimed to have had part of her lung removed. Shortly before the pretend operation, she visited the school to speak to her pupils while using crutches she did not need. To substantiate her false claims, the woman sent “a large number” of emails to her workmates pretending to be from her mother giving updates about her health. In September that year she claimed to be in intensive care before saying she had been accepted on to drug trials and was trying new treatments. By February 2022 she had told her colleagues she had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, had six months to live and went on to say the cancer had spread to her leg and knee. A few months later she also claimed the cancer was in her other leg and possibly her brain. During this time she came to the school to spend time with children using a wheelchair she did not need. The teacher asked a child to be a bridesmaid at her fictitious wedding and send her a bridesmaid dress. In September 2022 she pretended to be her mother and told a fellow teacher she was “tired now and struggling” and that her breathing was “very sporadic”. She impersonated a man to send messages to the same colleague, send voice notes pretending to be on a ventilator and slurred her voice pretending to have had a stroke. She even came back to the school to see pupils while in a wheelchair and using “stunted speech”. The woman wrote a post called “I Miss My Life” for colleagues and sent them a “Stand Up 2 Cancer” video. She wrote an email to primary six children telling them about her cancer treatment and sent other emails pretending to be her aunt. At once point she made a false claim of sexual assault to another teacher. She even told this colleague they would be a beneficiary of her will and promised them £3500. Pupils were taken to a helipad to wave at the air ambulance she claimed to be being transported in. She told other teachers she was a patient in a hospice, resulting in staff taking pupils to the hospice to hand in gifts. Having told colleagues she was in remission, she then said the cancer had spread and created a fake picture of herself with no hair. In March 2023, she pretended to be her aunt and told a colleague she had died. A few weeks later she send school staff a card supposedly from her mother and father with false information about death. The General Teaching Council for Scotland report says the teacher admitted the allegations in full and agreed she was not fit to teach. A tribunal found a “pattern of behaviour” that was “a chronic and elaborate deception, which she knew to be false throughout her perpetuation of it, and to which end she went to significant lengths to enhance its prospect of being believed”. They found she had abused trust, formed inappropriate relationships with pupils, misused social media and carried out a fraud. “The Panel determined that the public would not expect someone who had behaved in the manner the teacher did to continue to be a registered teacher and remain in the teaching profession,” the panel said. The teacher gave consent to be removed from the register but will be eligible to reapply in two years.
