An Ayrshire teacher has been struck off after failing a drugs test for recreational cannabis use - and lying about the results.
Cameron McKie was deemed “dishonest” by the General Teaching Council for Scotland after he “repeatedly advised” them the results were clear - when in fact they were not.
McKie, who did not attend the hearings, faced a total of seven misconduct charges from the GTCS who said his fitness to practise was “impaired” on or around April 1, 2017 and August 28, 2019, while employed as a teacher at Annanhill Primary School, Kilmarnock.
Other separate allegations related to McKie calling his partner at the time a “c**t,” shouting and acting in “an aggressive manner” towards her outside The First Edition pub in Kilmarnock, going to the house of a friend “in order to smoke cannabis,” and lunging in an “aggressive manner” towards his partner’s sister’s companion.
From the outset, McKie’s representative said that the teacher admitted just the one of the allegations, namely that on March 22, 2019, he attended work with cannabis in his system. All other allegations were denied.
McKie’s father also gave evidence to the GTCS, to which he said his son’s ‘decline’ had been due to the “extremely difficult conditions” he faced in teaching at both Mauchline and Annanhill Primary Schools, in the latter of which he had taught a “particularly challenging class.”
The dad also stated that the teacher had moved on from a “toxic relationship” and was now a “wholly different person.”
McKie’s grandfather also gave evidence to the panel.
However, after seven separate hearings into the allegations, witness statements, submissions and other procedural matters, the GTCS deemed that McKie’s behaviour in relation to some of the allegations, amounted to misconduct.
An extract from their report said: “The panel found that the teacher’s conduct in terms of his cannabis consumption, in attending school with cannabis in his system, providing incomplete information to GTC Scotland as a regulatory body in formal paperwork and his behaviour towards an ex-partner were not conducive to being a positive role model to pupils and would neither inspire nor motivate them to realise their full potential.”
The report goes on: “The panel considered that the teacher had been dishonest when he stated in his response form to GTC Scotland that his drug test had been ’completely clear.’”
McKie’s representative submitted that he had accepted the ‘guilty’ decision, but “did not agree with it,” but acknowledged that his conduct outwith school had “not been good.”
The panel was also told that it would be a “great pity” if McKie were not to be allowed to return to the profession “he loved.”
However, the panel concluded that “a pattern of behaviour” had been established, and that there was a “lack of evidence” to demonstrate that McKie had taken “appropriate steps” to “address his behaviour.”
The report concludes: “The panel determined that the teacher’s conduct falls significantly short of the standards expected of a registered teacher and that he is, as a result, unfit to teach.”
McKie has the right to appeal to the Court of Session against the decision, but must do so within 28 days of being served the decision notice.
Ayrshire Live did approach East Ayrshire Council for a response, but the organisation said they did not comment on individual cases to “protect a person’s right to privacy.”
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