A married Scottish teacher is fired over an alleged 18-month affair with a schoolgirl, in which the pair allegedly used burner phones to arrange illicit encounters, including sneaking into car parks and Travelodge to have sex.
Dr. Iain David Bryant taught chemistry at Levenmouth Academy in Leven, Fife, and is believed to have started an illicit tryst with the student – known simply as Pupil A – in October 2017.
The teacher, known to friends and colleagues as David, reportedly kissed the unnamed student – who was under 18 at the time – after she came to him when she was having a hard time at school.
This first kiss reportedly developed further, and it is alleged that they began a full-blown sexual relationship after she turned 18, allegedly sneaking into abandoned parking garages to “practice oral sex and foreplay.”
The 55-year-old appears at the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) five-day hearing.
Bryant faces a total of eight charges and, if found guilty, could be removed from the education register.
Dr. Iain David Bryant is in danger of being dropped after an 18-month affair with an apprentice, during which they allegedly snuck into car parks and a Travelodge for rendezvous
On Monday, the General Teaching Council for Scotland heard testimonies from Student A about how her relationship with Bryant (pictured) began
He is accused of kissing and touching the girl in a school lab, giving them a cell phone so they could communicate, and establishing a codeword for them to use as part of their alleged illicit relationship.
After the girl turned 18, Bryant allegedly met her several times a week to engage in sexual activity.
Bryant – who now works as a celebrant – allegedly met the student at a nearby Travelodge after she turned 18 to have sex.
According to the student, this followed a series of secret encounters in desolate car parks and garages where they engaged in oral sex and foreplay.
At the hearing, the three-member panel for the GTCS heard from Levenmouth Academy senior lecturer Ronnie Ross, who claimed to have uncovered hidden notes exchanged between the pair following Bryant’s 2019 suspension.
Mr Ross also said he found a series of ‘trinkets and a hug’ exchanged as gifts between Bryant and the girl.
In his testimony on Tuesday, Mr. Ross said: ‘There were trinkets, a small soft toy and I saw some messages kept next to the items, it was a big cupboard behind the leather wall.’
Lauren Doherty, presenting officer for the GTCS, asked the headteacher if the notes revealed much about the alleged relationship.
Dr. Iain David Bryant was teaching chemistry at Levenmouth Academy in Leven, Fife (pictured), when it is alleged he started an illicit tryst with the student – known simply as Pupil A
Mr Ross replied that they were ‘shallow’ and added: ‘The notes were just private correspondence between the pupil and the member of staff – nothing shocking but the fact that there were small notes and that pupil A had told a teacher that when they received the gifts and when they were exchanged.
“There was love and kisses, no suggestion of intercourse, it was more superficial things that were said. You thought, “Good heavens, they shouldn’t have done that.”‘
The panel also heard from Dean Hendry, Levenmouth’s principal history and modern studies teacher, who related how two teachers – Steve Davies and Laura Barrowman – told him of a rumor of a romance between Bryant and Student A after a school trip.
Mr Hendry said yesterday: ‘It was a senior modern study trip to the House of Parliament in Edinburgh. It had to do with gossip they had heard on the day of the modern study trip to the Scottish Parliament.
Steve Davies and Laura Barrowman were having lunch, and the students were having lunch, and what they said were students behind them [were] talking about teachers they liked and at one point they heard that a student was having a relationship with a teacher.
“I can’t confirm if that was the word used, relationship or affair, but it was along those lines.”
But he claimed he couldn’t report the allegations because he wasn’t sure which teacher was involved.
He told the GTCS how the affair came to light six months later when staff were finally made aware of the allegations against Bryant, saying: “I think it must have been at least six months after Dave was suspended, the staff was initially not informed and rightly so, people started chatting saying he was suspended for an alleged relationship with a student.’
On Monday, the GTCS heard evidence from student A about how the alleged relationship began.
She explained, “It started out David was just a teacher I could have a tirade with, it was just the two of us, most of the time the door was closed.” I was having a hard time at school and he would be the teacher I could talk to.
“In November 2017, one of the times I was talking, he made a comment that he wanted to kiss me and I told him to go for it, so he did and we kissed pretty much every day. The relationship lasted about three years from when I was 17 and I ended it because I had matured and got tired of being second best, so I told him to choose between me and his wife.”
Student A also spoke at the hearing about the extreme measures Bryant took to keep their relationship a secret from his wife.
It was heard that he even bought a burner phone and used a relative’s house for their meetings.
Student A, now 23, told the GTCS that a month after they first kissed “he bought a prepaid phone so we could talk over the Christmas break.”
She added: “In the beginning it was just me who confided in him, after the kiss it went from there, he would pick me up from school and we would drive around and chat.
“It was mostly mutual, I wouldn’t do it all to him, we didn’t sleep together until March 2018 when I turned 18.
“From the beginning, he told his wife that he had things on so we could meet. When we met, it was always in secret and in the car. He had the keys to a second house, I think it was his wife’s cousin’s house, so we met there.’
The hearing heard that the pair kissed and touched in a science lab at Levenmouth Academy and that they met in a car park outside East Fife FC’s Bayview stadium.
Student A also revealed that the couple began a full-blown sexual relationship at a Travelodge in Glenrothes, Fife after she turned 18.
Student A said, “There was a lot more oral sex and foreplay leading up to when we slept together. I had never been in a relationship like this before so it was all very new to me and I was hesitant to get started.
“There’s a local football field at Bayview and there’s a rubble ground that’s used as a car park, so we’d make a lot of use of that.”
Speaking of sex in a Travelodge in Glenrothes, she said: ‘I think it was chosen because it’s more comfortable than a car seat, and the local Travelodge is only five minutes’ drive for me, but far enough from where it is. remains that he would not be caught.’
The hearing continues.