A TEACHER alleged to have "groomed" a girl aged 14 on Facebook and to have asked her to send him naked photos of herself has been struck off.
David McGill, 43, was a design and technology teacher at Broxburn Academy in West Lothian, when he allegedly used the social network site to chat to the girl.
It is understood Mr McGill was dismissed from his post early last year after a probe, although the Crown Office decided against immediate court action after a review of evidence.
The teenager cannot be named for legal reasons. This week she spoke via video link at a fitness to teach hearing at the General Teaching Council for Scotland headquarters in Edinburgh.
She said the exchanges began innocently but got "more inappropriate". She said: "He asked me to start sending him naked pictures of my [breasts]. I said you should not be saying things like that because of my age and because … he had a family."
Mr McGill previously denied the allegations and told detectives his Facebook account was hacked. But this was disputed by the girl, her family and police. The girl told the NMC panel she was "100 per cent certain" it was him using his account.
The panel ruled Mr McGill's conduct had fallen "significantly short of the standards expected of a registered teacher" and he was found unfit to teach.
A report called his conduct "morally culpable or otherwise disgraceful". The report said although it happened outwith Mr McGill's work it was "likely to bring disgrace upon him as a teacher and thereby prejudiced the reputation of the profession." It added: "Furthermore, the respondent had shown no remorse or insight."
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