A teacher who was caught in a pub with a 15-year-old schoolgirl claims he just wanted to her to babysit his daughter.
Gavin Dunsmuir faces being struck from the teaching register after a fellow teacher said his body language with the pupil made them ‘look like a couple’.
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The religious education teacher, who taught at Largs Academy, in Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland, is also accused of taking the girl to another colleague’s home.
He denied having an inappropriate relationship with the pupil in 2015 and claimed he was just ‘mentoring’ her.
The female pupil, who cannot be identified, is believed to have left the school the same year.
Their alleged relationship unfolded between March and August in 2015, and now Mr Dunsmuir’s fitness to teach is being questioned by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) in Edinburgh.
Giving evidence, Lynsey Muir, a PE teacher at Largs Academy since 2001, told the panel that she ran into Mr Dunsmuir and a group of pupils at the Lounge public house in Largs.
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She said: ‘Gavin came into the pub with pupil A and several other pupils. There were four or five in total.
‘I was with a group of probationary teachers and I told them I had to leave. I felt really uncomfortable. Their body language was close, turning to each other.
‘My blood was boiling from the Lounge. It was in the summer of 2015, so she would’ve been at the end of sixth year.
‘She was a sensitive girl with a heart of gold. She lacked self-confidence.’
Miss Muir then said she recalled seeing the pupil alone in Mr Dunsmuir’s classroom on a daily basis.
‘I asked Gavin about pupil A and he told me he was a mentor to her,’ she said.
Also giving evidence at the hearing was Alan Leishman, a Chemistry teacher at Largs Academy from 2002.
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Alan was best friends with Gavin during their time at the school together, and even attended his wedding.
He said: ‘I felt pupil A and Gavin developed a relationship. I saw them on exam day, she had been at his house but I didn’t ask why. I recall him saying the pupil went as a surprise for his daughter.
‘Pupil A got on well with his daughter. He said he was going to use her as a babysitter. I recall saying to Gavin not to get too close. Gavin said she had issues and he knew not to get too close.
‘I asked Gavin if anything was going on and he said “no”.’
Mr Leishman also told the panel that Mr Dunsmuir’s wife had told him the teacher and pupil were having a relationship.
Mr Dunsmuir did not attend the hearing, which began on Tuesday, and did not arrange legal representation. The hearing continues.
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