Court victory for teacher in battle over dismissal for 'simulated sex act'
A teacher, battling to clear her name after being sacked for allegedly simulating a sex act in front of a class, has won a vital Appeal Court victory.
Top judge, Lord Justice Elias, ruled there was "a considerable amount of evidence" that science teacher Patricia Isabella Davies, from Wolverhampton, may have been set up by her pupils and be the innocent victim of a "conspiracy".
Miss Davies was the assistant head of science at Willingsworth High School, in Tipton, in October 2004 when pupils claimed she simulated male masturbation, using a broom as a prop, whilst teaching them about the production of static electricity by friction. Miss Davies, in her 50s, was given a final warning in 2005 after "a number of statements either in double figures or approaching double figures" were received from pupils who said they witnessed her demonstration.
She was dismissed by Sandwell Council, in 2006 for alleged misconduct – with the broomstick allegation counting against her – but has been battling ever since to prove that her sacking was unfair.
Lord Justice Elias, has now granted her permission to argue her case at the Court of Appeal after hearing there is evidence of "a possible conspiracy between the children" or that the allegation was an unreliable part of schoolyard "folk history".
Although Miss Davies' unfair dismissal claim was rejected last year by an employment tribunal, which said the warning had been issued in good faith, her representative, Ivan Yates, said there is powerful material contradicting the children's story.
That included records showing she had in fact been teaching Hooke's Law of Elasticity on the day and registers showing two of the pupils who made statements were absent from school at the time.
Lord Justice Elias said there was "some possibility that there may have been some sort of conspiracy by the pupils to fabricate the incident". The case will now go ahead for a full Appeal Court hearing.
