Pupil affair teacher struck off register

A RELIGIOUS education teacher who had a fling with a pupil has been struck off the register by the profession's governing body.

Thomas Docherty admitted having sex with a girl over the age of 16 while in a position of trust, a disciplinary hearing of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) heard. He was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in July.

Docherty, who is understood to be in his early fifties, taught at a school in Midlothian. He was not present at yesterday's hearing.

A GTCS statement said: "Public trust and confidence in the profession would be seriously impaired if the respondent's name remained on the register."

The fling happened between August 2005 and June 2007.