Jessica Picton was stopped by police less than two hours after leaving school
A teaching assistant has been barred from the classroom after being caught on a drink and drugs bender after school.
Jessica Picton, 33, was stopped by police at 4.45pm, less than two hours after leaving the primary school in Swansea as usual at 3.10pm. Officers found that Picton had been driving under the influencer of cocaine, alcohol, and cannabis on December 11, 2023
Picton worked with pupils with additional educational needs, and on June 14 2024 pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of controlled drugs and alcohol at West Glamorgan Magistrates Court. The court gave her a curfew, electronic tag, a 17-month driving ban, and a community order.
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Now, Education Workforce Council Wales (EWC) fitness to practise committee has barred Picton from teaching. The committee found that she had carried out unacceptable professional conduct, with the chair saying that she had shown “reckless disregard” for the EWC professional code.
It added that Picton’s actions “fell far below” the standards which are expected from teaching staff. The committee also heard that Picton did not engage with the proceedings, and that she had not shown any insight, remorse, or regret, as well as remarking that there was a risk that the behaviour would be repeated in future.
The committee also heard from Sharon Hope, who was the headteacher at Clase Primary at the time of the incident. Ms Hope said that Picton had failed to inform the school that she had been arrested, and she became concerned that Picton had been under the influence of drugs at work, though she said there was not any evidence of this.
Ms Hope said: “There was no evidence she was intoxicated in work but there was such a small gap that it was possible she had been in work under the influence of drugs. I asked her if she had anything she wanted to tell me. She replied ‘anything in particular?’. I was taken aback.”
She added: “I asked Jessica Picton if she had taken cocaine to which she replied ‘not knowingly’. There was a lack of transparency. I reminded her this was her opportunity to give me an honest account.”
The hearing was also told that before the incident on December 11 2023 Picton had an unblemished record of employment at the school. It heard that she had been kind to the children she worked with, hard working, and liked by colleagues.
Picton had started working at the school in 2012. There had never been any concerns about her prior to her arrest.
