Former assistant headteacher struck off after drink-driving conviction

A former teacher at a special school in East Yorkshire has been struck off from the profession following a previous conviction for drink-driving. Rachel Bruce was the assistant headteacher at Riverside Special School in Goole from 2015 until 2020. She has been barred from teaching indefinitely, according to a Teaching Regulation Agency report published on March 26.

The report said Ms Bruce failed a road-side breath test in Snaith, East Yorkshire, on June 13, 2020. It was recorded she had 112μg (micrograms) of alcohol in 100ml of breath, according to the report , which cited Humber Magistrates’ Court. The legal limit is 35μg (micrograms) of alcohol per 100ml of breath.



This would have put Ms Bruce at more than three times the legal limit. Ms Bruce was disqualified from driving for a period of 25 months, ordered to pay costs and a community order was made for Ms Bruce to carry out 100 hours of unpaid, supervised work, the report said. There were children in the car at the time of the offence, according to the report.

It said: "The panel noted that driving under the influence of alcohol was very serious and put a great deal of people at risk of harm, including herself, the children in the car and members of the public." It added: "The panel considered that driving under the influence of alcohol with children in a vehicle was a failure in Ms Bruce’s duty of care towards the children, exposed them to risk of harm and failed to promote the safety and welfare of children." The panel said Ms Bruce demonstrated some insight into her actions.

Ms Bruce stated in email correspondence to the TRA in December last year that she "made a potentially catastrophic error of judgement which has almost cost me the world". A witness told the panel Ms Bruce had strengths in the education profession, such as being “very good at safeguarding” and “very good at planning”. However, it made the decision to ban her from the profession.

Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from Hull with our free newsletter This means that Ms Rachel Bruce is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. She may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 18 March 2030. East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: “We referred the former teacher to the Teaching Regulation Agency in 2021, for the independent panel to review.

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