A teacher based in East London wrote fake letters from a hospital and lied about attending her brother's funeral to explain extended leave off work.
Between 2017 and 2018 Dionne Bryan was a reception class teacher at Portway Primary School in Newham, and she would often be away from work for long periods.
The school set up an investigation after some of her claims about why she was away were revealed as untrue, as dialling codes when she sent messages showed she was in Kingston, Jamaica, when she claimed to be either in Florida or the UK.
Several lies were exposed during the course of the investigation, including the school finding out she was not a qualified teacher, reports My London.
She also faked medical certificates from Dysart Surgery in Bromley , claiming she needed time off work to recover from the same procedure.
But soon her lies began to unravel.
Her claim that she was going to her brother's Florida-based funeral to explain another period off work fell apart when the 'order of service' she produced for the funeral was for someone who had not died, when she had taken the time off.
A member of school staff told the misconduct panel: "Due to the inconsistencies in the timeframe, I made an internet search on the information provided on her brother's death. The person Ms Bryan presented as her brother was [redacted], killed on May 28…
"However during the initial investigation meeting… Ms Bryan confirmed she was in Florida from May 24 to deal with the tragedy which was four days before the man presented as Ms Bryan's brother had been killed."
In another false instance, Ms Bryan claimed she had fled an incident of domestic violence and was staying in Birmingham, and that the police were involved.
The witness told the panel: "I spoke to both the police and social services before I made a referral for Ms Bryan's wellbeing, they both checked and could not find any record of Ms Bryan having reported an incident [of domestic abuse]."
All the while on each of these occasions she was in Jamaica according to the misconduct panel's findings.
A stamp on her passport was dated the day after the fake medical certificate was produced, which a witness from the school said meant "the absence had been pre-planned".
The panel said in a report that all her absences had a huge impact on the school and its pupils.
It said: "As a consequence of Ms Bryan's dishonesty, the panel heard oral evidence from Witness A that classroom cover had to be sought at very short notice, with serious cost implications for the school.
"Moreover, the school often had to have difficult conversations with parents over the lack of a regular teacher at the very beginning of the pupils' school careers."
Ms Bryan was dismissed from the school in October 2018 and the TRA panel decided in November 2019 that only a permanent ban from teaching was suitable.
In a statement to the panel Ms Bryan said: "I accept full responsibility for my actions. At this point in time I look back and do not recognise the person I became."
She also said: "There is nothing that can justify my despicable actions and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all who have been affected by my actions; the children, the school, the staff."
