A married deputy headteacher and her colleague have been banned from teaching after admitting to repeatedly having sex on school premises – including in classrooms and supply cupboards – sometimes while pupils were nearby.
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found that Liyarna Beamish, 39, former deputy head at Ribston Hall High School, and Gareth Collins, 45, an art teacher at the same institution, engaged in a two-year affair that amounted to what the panel described as “entirely unacceptable and irresponsible conduct.”
The misconduct took place between 2016 and 2018, with encounters occurring in the art room, locked cupboards, and other areas during school hours. Explicit messages between the pair on encrypted apps later exposed the affair.
Both Beamish and Collins admitted to the relationship during the TRA’s hearing in June. The panel determined their actions constituted “very serious and repeated acts of misconduct”, with only “limited remorse” shown.
“Ms Beamish’s conduct had fallen very far short of the standard of behaviour required of a teacher and had seriously breached professional boundaries,” the report concluded.
Panel’s Findings
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Beamish claimed she had been “emotionally manipulated” by Collins, but the panel found both were willing participants.
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She argued her behaviour posed no risk to pupils because she took precautions to avoid being discovered. However, the panel rejected this, noting the serious implications if pupils had witnessed the acts.
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Collins, who joined the school in 2015, expressed some remorse, but his actions were deemed equally damaging to the profession.
Civil servant David Oatley, who approved the ban, said the findings were grave because the sexual acts occurred “during school hours and on school premises, at a time when both teachers were expected to be working.”
Both teachers have now been banned from the classroom for at least two years, after which they may apply for the decision to be reconsidered.
The case has raised wider concerns about professional misconduct in UK schools and the safeguarding of pupils, with regulators stressing that the behaviour had “undermined public confidence in the teaching profession.”
✅ What’s your take? Do you want me to also add a critical editorial angle (like we did in the Yahaya Bello story) – focusing on how this scandal reflects gaps in school oversight and teacher accountability?
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