Dundee teacher Mike Barile has been struck off by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) after the regulatory body upheld eight charges of misconduct against him while he taught at Lawside Academy in the city and Madras College in St Andrews.
Mr Barile was unavailable for comment, but his wife Moira (54) branded the judgment the result of a “witch hunt” against her husband.
She said: ”I think the decision is absolutely appalling. The amount of money that has been spent on this case over two years is ridiculous.
”Two years ago he sent a letter to the GTCS saying he no longer wished to be on the register to teach, and he has not paid his fees since that time.
”I do not know why they felt it was necessary to do what they have done. The cost paid by his union, the EIS, for his representation is something like £15,000 and the cost to the GTCS of their legal advice also runs into thousands.
”I think ordinary teachers all over the country would be horrified to know their money is being spent in this way. I think the whole thing was a huge waste of time and money and was basically just a witch hunt against my husband.”
The disciplinary sub-committee found proven four charges that Mr Barile (54) assaulted pupils at Lawside Academy, now part of St Paul’s Academy, by such actions as seizing a boy by the clothing and pushing him from a chair, placing his forearm against a boy’s chest and pinning him against a wall, pulling a boy by the hair causing the front legs of his chair to come off the ground and grabbing a girl by the arm.
These incidents all took place in 2007 and 2008.
The sub-committee also found proven that in November 2006, while on the staff at Madras College, he engaged in aggressive and threatening behaviour towards teacher John Urquhart and telephoned and threatened him, placing him in a state of fear and alarm.
Also proved was that during November 2006 at Madras, he engaged in an aggressive and threatening manner towards teacher Dorothy Comber and shouted at her, placing her in a state of fear and alarm.
A charge that Mr Barile engaged in aggressive and threatening behaviour at Lawside towards teacher Carol Scott in October 2007 and May 2008 and shouted at her, placing her in a state of fear and alarm, was also proved.
The same finding was made on the allegation that between the same two months at Lawside, he engaged in aggressive and threatening behaviour towards teacher Kathleen Valentine and shouted and threatened her, placing her in a state of fear and alarm.
Mr Barile denied all the charges at a preliminary hearing last April, and he criticised the GTCS for proceeding with the case when he had not taught since 2009 and had no plans to return to the classroom.
In its judgment issued on Monday, however, the sub-committee ”saw a pattern of behaviour in which the respondent used physical contact to attempt to control pupils’ movement and reacted to some colleagues in an aggressive and threatening manner.”
It added: ”In the majority of charges, the respondent acknowledged that the incidents had taken place, but disputed the degree or gravity of the incidents.”
It was also found that there was a considerable number of transgressions over two years in two different schools but Mr Barile did not admit the charges, did not acknowledge the impact on the victims, and showed no remorse.
The 30-page judgment said Mr Barile went to considerable lengths to discredit the schools in which he worked, and the colleagues and pupils with whom he worked, to justify his actions.
Pupil behaviour and poor disciplinary policy and practices were given as mitigating factors, but the sub-committee heard a range of evidence ”that clearly indicated that there were alternative actions and processes available” to Mr Barile which he failed to use.
The sub-committee felt that Mr Barile’s conduct was fundamentally incompatible with being a registered teacher, and that the only sanction which would justify public confidence in the teaching profession and safeguard pupils with whom he might otherwise work in the future would be removal from the register.
In being struck off, Mr Barile is prohibited from applying for restoration to the register for one year. He can appeal against the decision to the Court of Session.
In 2008, the maths teacher was found guilty after a trial at Dundee Sheriff Court of assaulting two pupils at Lawside Academy, but appealed against the verdict and was later granted an absolute discharge at the Court of Session.