A HEROIN addict teacher has been struck off after she broke into the former home of a jailed paedophile.

Primary teacher Vanessa Law stole from an address that had been the home of Andrew Whitelaw until he was jailed for amassing 200,000 child pornography images.

The 32-year-old former heroin addict also stole petrol from garages in Fife and Glasgow during a crime spree in 2012.

Yesterday the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) confirmed it had removed Ms Law from the register after she consented to be struck off.

Ms Law did not attend the "removal with consent" hearing on November 5.

The GTCS charged her with five offences, all dealt with earlier in court. They included that on July 13, 2012, at McGregor Avenue, Lochgelly, Fife, she stole a key and participated in theft by housebreaking.

Whitelaw, 71, lived at the same address until jailed for four and a half months in April that year.

Law, believed to be teaching at nearby Methilhill Primary at the time, is thought to have broken into the house to pay for her habit. GTCS says that Law "while working as a teacher [was] actively using illegal drugs, namely heroin".

Fife Council said: "We never discuss individual circumstances of former or current employees."