March 2017 Banned from teaching: Leicester teacher who took drugs and had pupil sleepovers A teacher who took drugs with pupils and allowed them to stay overnight at his home has been barred from the profession for life. Robert Roskelly was working as a science teacher at Winstanley Community College, in Braunstone, Leicester, when he formed the relationships with three male pupils. A misconduct panel convened by the National College for Teaching and Leadership found the 33-year-old had committed eight breaches of standards of professional conduct expected of teachers. The allegations, all of which were found to be proved, involved his relationship with three students, referred to in the report as pupils A, B and C. He admitted taking mephedrone and other legal highs with Pupil C. Mr Roskelly, who did not appear at the hearing but was legally represented, also acknowledged he was present when Pupil A fell ill after taking a ‘legal high’ drug. He further admitted giving money to pupil C – on one occasion £80 and another £20 – for the boy and Pupil A to go to the cinema. He admitted knowing the boy used some of the cash to buy an illegal drug. Pupils A and C also slept overnight at his home on at least one occasion, the misconduct panel ruled. Also, he conceded he had slept overnight at Pupil A’s home on at least two occasions. On one occasion the boy’s mother was present, while on another she was away, having been taken to hospital. The panel also heard that he visited Pupil B’s home and spent time alone with the boy in his bedroom. A second student who was present reported that the boy was wearing only his underpants at the time. The panel heard other allegations against the teacher, who joined the school in August 2006 and resigned in December 2014 during the school’s own investigation into his conduct. Those included a proven allegation that he held an unauthorised fitness class on school premises during which a number of boys were topless. He also broke strict school rules by being friends with a number of pupils or ex-pupils on Facebook, having been told by his headteacher this was not acceptable. Details of the hearing were posted on the professional body’s website. The report of the hearing confirms that an application by Mr Roskelly’s legal representative for the hearing to be heard in private, was rejected by the panel. In conclusion, Jayne Millions, of the National College for Teaching and Leadership, ruled Mr Roskelly should be banned for life from teaching in “any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England”. She said in her report: “The panel considers that public confidence in the profession could be severely weakened if conduct such as that found against Mr Roskelly were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession.” She went on: “The panel noted from his written representations that Mr Roskelly regretted the decisions he had made over a four to six week period. “He states that he became involved with a group of people which led to him becoming involved in taking legal highs and this led to ‘poor decisions’ and ‘poor choices’ relating to drug use. “He was aged under 30 at the time and his representative submitted that his actions were immature and he did not realise the significance of them at the time.” She added: “Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Roskelly shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his ability to teach.” Mr Roskelly, whose application for the hearing to be heard in private was rejected, has 28 days from the date of the ruling, which was issued on February 27, to appeal to the courts.