A teacher who exchanged more than 1,000 emails with a pupil at his school, in which he called her "bach" and told her he "loved" her personality and company, has been found to have acted unprofessionally by the Education Workforce Council (EWC) but has been told he can continue working in the profession.
Inappropriate emails revealed
Patrick Devine, who taught Welsh at Abertillery Learning Community and was head of the school's modern foreign languages department, sent hundreds of emails to a pupil studying for her GCSEs, a significant number of which were sent late at night and at weekends. The inappropriate messages were exchanged between February and July 2023.
In total 989 emails were exchanged, 543 of which were exchanged outside the hours of 8am and 6pm and 353 of the emails were sent at weekends. On occasions the email exchanges would go on into the early hours of the morning, the EWC panel was told during a hearing this week which Devine didn't attend and had asked to be held in private, which the EWC refused.
School investigation and police involvement
The emails emerged during an internal investigation carried out by the school after a member of staff raised their concerns to deputy headteacher Kate Olsen regarding the amount of time Devine had been observed spending with the pupil. On June 9, 2023, Ms Olsen met with Devine and was said to have instructed him not to be alone with a teenage girl - referred to as Pupil A in the hearing - in his classroom.
Devine had emailed Pupil A via the school system stating: "Listen, if at any point you want to call over for a nap or a lie down, you know that could happen." During a police investigation into the matter Devine told Gwent Police officers: "There were some days she would go to the other subject first and then come back over and if I was still working she would just use my room as a quiet space to do an extra hour of revision before she went home. So I do appreciate that there were times when I was alone in my room with her, but I always had the door open."
Devine is recorded as accepting he didn't follow Ms Olsen's instruction. Devine said: "If I had told Pupil A it had to stop it would have done more harm than good. She was under a lot of pressure. It was a safe space. If she had stopped coming then it could have stoked rumours. She came as frequently as before."
Prom and further concerns
On June 29 the school held a leavers prom for its year 11 pupils. At and following the prom, concerns were again raised by staff that Pupil A had spent part of the evening with Devine. Then in July it was reported Pupil A attempted to meet with Devine at the school, which prompted a review of email data between the pair.
The panel heard that the vast majority of the emails discovered during that review didn't concern school or even education-related matters, often focusing on each other's private lives. Devine referred to talking with his wife on Snapchat, while Pupil A and Devine would use swear words in their email exchanges. There were also references to alcohol and alcohol use. On one occasion Devine said: "Ease up on yourself please and get one of them glasses that fits a whole [bottle of wine in one]." In another, Pupil A referenced doing revision with a bottle of lager.
Devine, who emailed the pupil saying, "sweet dreams dear, sleep well," engaged in messages that involved a high degree of over familiarity, the panel heard. Devine repeatedly called Pupil A "bach" - meaning "little one" - and she would call him "Pids".
EWC findings and sanction
"There is a colossal overstepping and lack of adherence to professional boundaries (by Devine)," said Luke Lambourne, presenting the case for the EWC. Most of the messages were sent over a period when the girl was mainly on study leave and only allowed into school for exams. In a written statement to the committee Devine admitted exchanging "inappropriate and excessive" emails with the pupil but denied there was any sexual motivation and none was alleged.
The emails also mention Devine doing impersonations of other teachers at the school, which takes pupils aged from aged three through to 16, as well as disparaging them and other subjects, the committee was told. In one email the teacher told Pupil A: "Listen, science is cach (sh*t) anyway." In another he advised her: "Don't overdo it with the maths. We have already established it does not make sense."
Devine, who was suspended on July 5, 2023, admitted the volume of the emails exchanged was excessive and accepted that some of the emails were inappropriate and crossed professional boundaries. The allegation that Devine exchanged emails with the pupil which were inappropriate and excessive was proved, as was the allegation that Devine allowed and/or encouraged the pupil to spend time in his classroom. Allegations heard by the EWC that Devine had given the girl gifts, had encouraged her to meet up with him outside of school, and had touched or stroked her wrist, were found not proved.
The EWC panel decided a reprimand was sufficient for Devine and he wouldn't lose his registration to teach. The reprimand will remain on his record for two years, and he can appeal the decision within 28 days. The committee concluded: "The committee was satisfied that the imposition of a reprimand did reflect the seriousness of the conduct found proved. It is both sufficient and necessary to maintain public trust and confidence in the profession and to declare proper standards of conduct. The committee had in mind that the purpose of a sanction was not to be punitive and should be the least serious in order to protect the public interest."
The panel heard Devine's career had been "unblemished" prior to the saga in 2023. The panel heard they had received positive references about Devine who had clearly been a well respected teacher and colleague. Devine, reflecting on his actions, said the emails showed "a level of unprofessionalism that I hadn’t realised at the time.... With hindsight there is a lot I would change.... It looks like I am talking to a friend rather than someone I teach." Gwent Police were called in during the school and local education authority investigation and concluded there was no criminal case to answer by Devine.
