Teacher Found In Bed With 17-Year Old Male Student, Charged

A teacher has been found in bed with one of her pupils on prom night, by another student. Isabelle Graham is accused of sleeping with a 17-year-old pupil in a city centre Travelodge.

She faces being kicked out of the profession.

The hearing in Edinburgh was shown a photograph of the room which apparently showed Mrs Graham in bed and the pupil near the doorMrs Graham denies the charges and claims to have no recollection of events after 10.30pm, having drunk four glass of wine.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) accuses Mrs Graham of going with the boy from an upmarket Edinburgh hotel where the prom took place in June 2014 to a nearby Travelodge.

The former teacher at Whitburn Academy, West Lothian, is alleged to have spent three hours alone with the teenager, drinking with him, sharing a bed with him and ‘repeatedly engaged in sexual activity’ with him.

The disciplinary panel heard from Fraser Thomson, a council employee who investigated the case.

Thomson said that the investigation began senior teaching staff were made aware that ‘a photograph had been uploaded on social media’.

He described the photo, claiming it shows a lady with long blonde hair on a bed.

The photo was taken by another pupil who was meant to be sharing a room with Pupil A but returned numerous times to find the teacher in the room.

Thomson said evidence from students outlined how they saw ‘Pupil A and Mrs Graham lying on the bed, one on top of the covers and one underneath the covers’.

Mrs Graham claims her first recollection after 10.30pm was ‘when she woke up in her flat at about 5.00am’.

She also admitted that four glasses of wine would not normally intoxicate her to that level, and said of the hair in the photograph: ‘It looks like my hair’. She denied recognising the young man in the photograph.

The allegations sparked a police investigation at the time – but no charges were brought.
The main hearing followed a procedural hearing on July 26 in which Ms Graham applied to have the hearing held in private, her request was denied.

A spokesman for West Lothian Council said: ‘Ms Graham is no longer employed by West Lothian Council and it would not be appropriate to comment further.’

The hearing continues.