An English teacher who hid gin in her water bottle during a lesson has been banned from teaching for two years. Annika Kapur, 30, was teaching at Djanogly City Academy in Nottingham in January 2025 when she began slurring her words and swaying unsteadily.
Kapur told a staff member that 'this class terrifies me' and claimed she was holding a bottle of a 'non alcoholic drink' but could not see what was inside. The school investigated, and Kapur said she had a half-filled water bottle with alcohol still in it from her birthday weekend, which she had only drunk from at the end of the day.
A Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel heard that a student had his head on the desk, and Kapur 'gently pulled him up from the desk with his hair'. Another staff member said she was gesticulating and speaking in an out-of-character way. When asked to speak outside the classroom, she began to retch before being sick in the staff toilet.
Kapur admitted unacceptable professional conduct by bringing alcohol onto school premises, drinking it, and being drunk during school hours, putting pupils at risk. The panel concluded she drank a third of a bottle of gin and lemon knowing it tasted of alcohol and chose to stay in the classroom.
