Deputy head struck off for being drunk

THE former deputy head of a primary school has been banned from teaching for being drunk on a school trip.

Anne Bruce, 55, was seen staggering into walls and heard singing in the corridors at an outdoor centre in March 2008.

Mrs Bruce, who worked at St Mary's Primary in Paisley, was in charge of around 30 primary children at the Castle Toward Education Centre in Dunoon.

A probationary teacher on the trip, David Keenan, yesterday told a disciplinary sub-committee of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) that Mrs Bruce had asked him to buy vodka.

Mr Keenan said: "I was a bit uncomfortable about it."

Later that week, Mr Keenan said his concern grew as teachers supervised lights-out.

He said: "I could hear singing coming from the girls' dormitory and could tell it was Mrs Bruce.

"She did come down later and she was stumbling against the walls."

Mrs Bruce was suspended and an investigation was launched by Renfrewshire Council. She had already been granted early retirement and left before proceedings could take place. Yesterday, she was struck off the teaching register.