Angry ‘out of control’ Glasgow teacher struck off

A VETERAN teacher has been struck off after a hearing was told he challenged a schoolboy to a fight.

Drumchapel high school. Picture: geograph.org

Maths teacher Francis Carlton was “out of control”, frightening senior staff and pupils alike with his outbursts, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) heard.

The 65-year-old threatened one boy with revealing highly sensitive information about him to the whole class.

On another occasion, the Glasgow teacher yelled so loudly at boys in a corridor that a colleague left her room to investigate, watching as a red-faced Mr Carlton yelled at a boy: “Are you stupid?”

A headteacher said Mr Carlton once ushered a boy out of his class, locked the door, and was then seen holding a “metre stick”.

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Mr Carlton told a disciplinary hearing of the GTCS in Edinburgh this week that he suffers from work-related stress, high blood pressure and irritable bowel syndrome.

He said he should not have been left to teach “miscreants” at Drumchapel and Castlemilk high schools and claimed city council officials should “hang their heads in shame” for not supporting him.

The hearing in Edinburgh found seven charges proven against Mr Carlton. These included threatening to make false allegations against pupils, threatening to publicly disclose confidential information about a pupil, acting aggressively and acting in an unprofessional manner regarding test papers.

Donna McMaster, 48, acting head of Drumchapel in 2012, said: “On 9 January, you were ushering a pupil out of a door, you locked the door and I saw you standing with a metre stick in your hands.”

She said she had further concerns when she heard reports that at a previous school Mr Carlton “had challenged a boy to a fight in class” – something that was “swept under the carpet”.

Mrs McMaster said another incident took place on 8 March 2012, when he told a vulnerable child that he would “tell the whole class of his situation”.

She said he told the pupil and mother: “I know what you’ve been up to. Do you want me to tell the whole class?

“The pupil’s mother was shocked. I was outraged,” said Mrs McMaster.

Anne Mallon, 54, a work experience officer at Castlemilk, said she heard Mr Carlton “shouting at the top of his voice” during an outburst on 24 October 2012.

She said: “I observed him to be shouting at one pupil, ‘Take that smirk off your face’ and ‘Are you stupid?’.

“I was shocked by what I saw. I observed his face being a deep red – the child looked startled.

“It was clear in my mind Mr Carlton was out of control, out of order. I have never witnessed this before.”

Mr Carlton, who represented himself at the hearing, denied the charges and claimed witnesses were unreliable.

He asked: “Are these miscreant pupils the most reliable to ask? Some of the incidents were only seen in the classroom.”

He added: “I was suffering from severe physical trauma caused by stress. I don’t understand why I was given control of the lesser forming classes even though these are known to be the most challenging.”

After the GTCS announced its decision to strike him off, Mr Carlton said: “I think that certain individuals at Glasgow City Council should hang their heads in shame for not giving me support when I needed it.”

Mr Carlton declined to comment as he left the building.