A Scots teacher faces being struck off after allegedly having a whirlwind 18 month affair with a pupil.
Dr Iain David Bryant was a chemistry teacher at Levenmouth Academy in Leven, Fife, when he is claimed to have begun an illicit tryst with the student back in October 2017. It's alleged that the pair would sneak off to car parks and a Travelodge for romps.
The unnamed student, known simply as Pupil A, was under 18 at the time. The teacher, known as David to friends and colleagues, allegedly kissed the student after she came to him during a hard time in high school.
This initial kiss allegedly then developed into a relationship between the pair which resulted in Bryant meeting with the girl several times a week, and engaging in sexual activity once she was over 18. The slew of allegations Bryant further faces include kissing and touching the girl in a school laboratory and gifting her a mobile phone and establishing a code word for the pair to communicate through.
Bryant then allegedly met with the student in a nearby Travelodge after she turned 18, where it is claimed that the two would proceed to have full sexual intercourse. According to the pupil herself, this followed a series of secretive meet-ups in desolate car parks and garages where they would engage in oral sex and foreplay.
Bryant now faces a five day hearing from teaching watchdog the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), although he opted not to attend the first day on Monday. Bryant faces eight allegations in total and if found guilty, faces being removed from the teaching register.
The full allegations against Bryant state: "Between October 2017 and June 2019 at Levenmouth Academy, it is alleged that the Teacher did enter into a relationship with Pupil A, then a pupil at the school and did: "Take Pupil A away from a window and hug her as she was feeling upset.
"Say he was thinking about kissing Pupil A the following day. Kiss Pupil A [who at the time was still at school and under the age of 18].
"Engage in an emotional relationship with Pupil A who at the time was still at school and under the age of 18. Kiss and touch Pupil A in the technician's lab.
"Meet with Pupil A two or three times a week in parks and walk dogs. Give Pupil A a mobile phone, a few months later, and contact her using a code word Delilah. Meet with Pupil A in a Travelodge and/or other property and engage in sexual activity once she was over 18."
The three person panel for the GTCS heard evidence on Monday from the pupil about how her relationship with her teacher began. The former pupil, now 23, admitted she had been taken in by Bryant's personality, explaining how he had told her he wanted to kiss her - to which she told him to "go for it".
She said: "It started out that David was just a teacher that I could have a rant with, it was just the two of us, most of the time the door was shut. I had a hard time in school and he would be the teacher I could talk to.
"In November of 2017, one of the times I was talking, he made a comment about wanting to kiss me and I told him to go for it so he did and we were kissing pretty much everyday. The relationship lasted about three years from when I was 17 and I ended it as I had become more mature and sick of being second best so I told him to choose between me and his wife."
The schoolgirl told how Bryant went to extreme lengths to keep their romps secret from his wife - going as far as buying a burner phone and using a family member's home to meet up with her.
On Monday Pupil A told the GTCS: "A month after [we first kissed] he bought a pay as you go phone so we could talk over the Christmas break. At the beginning it was just me confiding in him, after the kiss it went from there, he would pick me up from school and we would drive about and chat.
"It was mostly mutual, I wouldn't put it all on him, we didn't sleep together until March of 2018 when I had turned 18 years old. From the beginning he would tell his wife he had things on so we could meet, when we met up it was always in secret and in the car. He had keys to a second house, I think it was his wife's cousin's home so we started meeting there."
When asked by Presenting Officer Lauren Doherty about what had taken place inside the school building, Pupil A told the GTCS that there had been sexual activity but never full blown intercourse.
Pupil A said: "In the biology lab at Levenmouth academy, it was always kissing and the use of hands shall we say, nothing more than that - it was never full sexual intercourse."
When then asked by Ms Doherty about how they would communicate, Pupil A told of their codename for conversations.
She said: "I would describe it [his phone] as a burner phone, he had bought it from Asda, it was pay as you go with nothing on it, it was very cheap and bog standard. He had a personal phone with social media etc, but this phone was just for messaging me.
"I was referred to as Delilah as in the Plain White T's song to ensure that it was just the two of us, to make sure we were safe. He was terrified of being found out so he wanted to make sure my mum hadn't found messages and was talking to him. I wanted to know that it was him speaking to me and not his wife."
Pupil A revealed that the pair began a full on sexual relationship at a Travelodge in Glenrothes, Fife, after she had turned 18. The former schoolgirl also told the panel of how the married sir would park up outside of East Fife's Bayview stadium, as well as a local park and ride, to enjoy illicit moments of passion.
Pupil A said: "There was a lot more oral sex and foreplay leading up to when we slept together. I had never had a relationship like that before so it was all very new to me and I was hesitant to begin with.
"There's a local football ground at Bayview and there is rubble ground which is used as a car park so we would use that a lot. There is also a series of garages we used as well at the beginning of the relationship down in lower Methil. [We had sex] in the local travelodge in Glenrothes.
"I think it was chosen as it was more accommodating than a car seat and the local Travelodge is only a five minute drive for me but far enough away from where he stays that he wouldn't be caught."
The hearing continues.
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