Bullying probe teacher sacked

Moira Ogilvie (39), was dismissed from Rotherham’s High Greave Junior School after bullying allegations were raised at an inquest on eating disorder sufferer Britt Pilton who died last February.

The case will go to the teachers’professional body to consider further sanctions—including striking her off the teaching register.

Rotherham Borough Council this week confirmed that she had been dismissed for bullying.

A disciplinary hearing was held just before Christmas, following which there was a period in which Ms Ogilvie could have appealed against her dismissal but chose not to.

Bride-to-be Ms Pilton (29) died from the effects of bulimia which had been heightened by the levels of anxiety after months of being bullied, the inquest heard last June.

The popular teacher was found collapsed on a toilet floor in February last year and died despite staff attempts to resuscitate her.

The teacher accused of bullying Ms Pilton was not identified at the inquest.

Two or three other teachers had already left over bullying, the hearing was told.

On the day she died, Ms Pilton had been left panic-stricken after her lesson notes mysteriously disappeared.

The hearing was told that Ms Pilton, of Maplewood Avenue, Woodlaithes Village, had been targeted over a 12-month period.

But when she approached her union for help, her tormentor found out and “pumped up the pressure,” the inquest heard.

Her father Trevor Pilton, a retired deputy head teacher, said: “If I had known what was happening I would have told her to leave immediately.”

Ms Pilton died from bulimia linked to a lack of blood flow to her gut which had caused her stomach pains.

Pathologist Dr Len Harvey told the inquest: “People with bulimia literally can just die for no apparent reason.”

The Rotherham Coroner, Ms Nicola Mundy, recorded a narrative verdict and said Ms Pilton had been “dealing with a number of additional pressures in her working environment which led to considerable levels of anxiety over a period of months.”

Ms Pilton—who had been planning to marry fiancé James French last summer—had suffered a long battle with bulimia and had been prescribed anti-depressants, the inquest was told.

The court heard that she had felt unable to seek internal professional help because it would be “used against her.”

The council spokesman said this week that a teacher accused of bullying, understood to be Ms Ogilvie, had been dismissed for gross misconduct following an investigation into the allegations of bullying raised at the inquest.

“We take all allegations of this type seriously and in this instance we carried out a full and thorough investigation of the allegations as soon as we were made aware and have taken appropriate action,” he said.

The case will now be passed on to the General Teaching Council to consider.

The GTC is the professional body for teachers and is responsible for ensuring good standards are maintained. 

Teachers found guilty face sanctions ranging from a reprimand, a suspension order or prohibition from the profession.

No comment was available from the school.