A SCOTTISH TEACHER was found guilty by a TEACHING watchdog of kissing and flirtatiously dancing with a student at a nearby nightclub.

In yesterday’s hearing before the General Teaching Council for Scotland, Ashley McConnell sobbed as she fought for her job (GTCS).

In March 2018, the physics instructor from Thurso High School in Caithness was discovered to have kissed the 17-year-old student at a nearby nightclub called Skinandi’s.

Additionally, the teaching panel thought there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the married mother danced “flirtatiously” with him.

McConnell, who was 30 at the time, admitted before the GTCS that she drank too much alcohol on the disputed night and was unable to recall anything.

After some students questioned Miss McConnell’s behaviour, she acknowledged shaking hands with the Thurso High School student and urging other students to “f*** off” that evening.

She acknowledged giving one female student the middle finger and drinking too much wine.

The GTCS concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support claims that Miss McConnell had touched the student’s bottom or groyne.

The panel will now need to decide if McConnell is still suitable to teach and whether she may stay on the teaching register.

Miss McConnell asserted yesterday that she hadn’t drank any alcohol since the incidental night.

She said: “I realised that my conduct had fallen short, I don’t drink anymore, perhaps if I hadn’t been drinking that night I wouldn’t be in the predicament we are in.” She was fighting to stay on the teaching register.

“I’m very sorry and ashamed of myself.

“Behavior of this sort will never be repeated, and I hope you will realise how out of character I was at the time.” There is no chance of repetition.

“I’ve done everything I can; my behaviour at work has never been questioned. I have changed a number of things.

After their kiss in the club, Miss McConnell refused to consider the possibility that she might have caused the student long-term emotional harm.

Did I irritate him that night, she asked? Yes, and was it him who supposedly put a stop to the events? Yes, but I don’t believe it left him with permanent emotional harm.

The night in question, according to Miss McConnell, had a negative impact on her.

“It has already had an impact on me; I haven’t been able to teach for the past four years,” she said.

“I could obtain a new job, but I wouldn’t be happy about it; I wouldn’t be enthusiastic or passionate about it.

It’s not the same as the private coaching I’ve been doing, though.

Leslie-Anne Wooles, a teacher and a friend of Miss McConnell, spoke before the GTCS yesterday as well.

The last time I saw her in person was at a wedding, where there was a free bar and plenty of drink, but Ashley didn’t touch a drop of it, the witness recalled.

Angela Sutherland, a different coworker who was out with McConnell that evening in March, spoke to the panel earlier this week. Sutherland couldn’t believe McConnell was still standing.

She said: “For my 50th birthday, the entire scientific department came to my house. We ordered takeout and drank some wine and beer.

“Ashley drank a lot at my house, and that was before we even went out. When I left her, she was incredibly wasted and couldn’t even form complete sentences.

We were in my home, so I was comparatively sober.

I was acutely aware of how inebriated she was even though I didn’t really feel intoxicated at any time that evening.

She had been drinking beer but also, I believe, Jack Daniels. When I left, she gave me a big hug while mumbling “I love you,” and I’m not sure how she managed to stay upright.

Following an examination into her alleged behaviour, the GTCS may decide to strike Miss McConnell’s name from the teaching register.

After worried students presented school administrators with a video of the alleged incident, she was placed on administrative leave.

The teacher was allegedly dancing in a “sexualized” and “dirty” manner, according to students who were present at the nightclub.

The student at Thurso High School who Miss McConnell was accused of acting improperly with admitted to kissing her “three or four times” to school administrators.