A primary teacher who hacked into a colleague’s secure email account to send emails to other staff, has been struck off the register.
Karen Kennedy was deemed unfit to teach by a disciplinary hearing at the General Teaching Council for Scotland, after it found she had misused a laptop provided to her by Angus Council to support her with her Scottish Qualification for Headship application, by giving others access to it.
The fitness to teach panel heard Ms Kennedy, previously depute head at Andover Primary in Brechin, had also made false allegations about fellow teacher Grant Johnston, with whom she had had a relationship, and put pressure on Marion Robertson, a colleague, to give a false alibi on her behalf to hide the fact that she had accessed the secure email account of another colleague, Elizabeth Howson.
It also upheld a charge that she had acted inappropriately towards a teacher on a temporary contract, Laura Robertson, saying “she should be careful” and that she wanted her to get a job; and towards a supply teacher, Lynda Wallace, suggesting she had better “watch her step”.
The panel found Ms Kennedy’s conduct fell “significantly short” of the standards expected of a registered teacher.
It was clear that she had acted dishonestly, abused her position of authority and committed serious breaches of trust in her dealings with colleagues, the panel found.
