A principal music teacher who was presented with allegations that one of her colleagues was a sexual predator and told him instead of escalating the matter to her superiors has been banned from teaching.
Ellen Bogie had been working at a high school in Fife when she was contacted by a female former pupil, Pupil A, who had been one of the victims of perverted teacher Matthew Birch, who had worked at the school.
But rather than relay the concerns to education bosses in Fife, Bogie presented them to Birch, whom she regarded as a friend. An investigation was only launched when the former pupil reported the matter to a headteacher a year later.
Bogie has been struck off following a General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) hearing; she cannot reapply to return to the profession for at least 18 months.
Birch, now 47, was jailed for 11 years in February 2022 after being found guilty of nine charges, including rape, against six female pupils while working at schools in Fife and North Lanarkshire between 2006 and 2017.
Ellen Bogie was a principal music teacher at a high school in Fife when she was presented with information about Matthew Birch
Matthew Birch (right) arrives at court during his trial in December 2021. He was later found guilty of nine sexual offences, including rape
Bogie was suspended from her job around the same time that her friend was convicted and was later demoted from her principal teaching role. She quit teaching altogether in September 2022.
However, the teacher was hauled before a fitness to practise hearing after a watchdog concluded there was evidence she had failed to follow child protection rules by telling Birch about the claims rather than escalating them.
She admitted four allegations outlined by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) at the hearing earlier this year, details of which have only recently been made public after she agreed to be removed from the register.
A written summary of the case details how Bogie admitted she ‘made mistakes when dealing with concerns raised by Pupil A’, including that ‘other children were potentially at risk of harm’.
However, she could not recall telling Birch about the allegations – a matter that was raised during his trial – but ‘accepts that she told Colleague A that Pupil A had made allegations about him’, the panel heard.
‘The teacher accepts that she should have made a report to the child protection coordinator and regrets failing to do so,’ the summary noted.
Bogie also accepted that, while Pupil A was still at school, she had given the youngster her phone number, drove to Dunfermline to pick her up after receiving a distressed phone call, and sent her a text message reading: ‘I love you too x’.
When bosses asked her to block the pupil’s phone number, she failed to do so – these, and other actions, ‘lacked integrity’, the panel found.
But Bogie also told the hearing that she was ‘haunted every day’ by what happened to the pupil.
However, the panel saw fit to strike the music teacher from the register. She cannot reapply for at least 18 months and now works outside of education.
It concluded: ‘(We) considered that the teacher had potentially put other children at risk by not dealing promptly with the information disclosed to her.
‘In all the circumstances the panel considered that the teacher was unfit to teach and had fallen significantly short of the standards for registration.
‘She is not currently working as a teacher though remains hopeful that she may be able to return to the profession someday. She accepts the seriousness of her failings.’
Ellen Bogie (left) says she is ‘haunted every day’ by what happened to Pupil A, who was one of the victims of Matthew Birch (right, in a police mugshot)
Birch had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him but was found guilty of nine charges by a unanimous jury and jailed for 11 years in February 2022.
Bogie’s failure to act on Pupil A’s warning was alluded to by prosecutors during the trial.
He had described female school pupils as ‘fair game’ and had ‘cultivated dependencies’ by preying on teenage girls with ‘musical talent, troubled lives and difficulties at home’, his trial had heard.
Prosecutor Erin Campbell said at the time: ‘She (Pupil A) confided in her, but she was not believed.
‘(This teacher) did not report it to anyone and instead went straight to Matthew Birch.’
Police said at the time of his sentencing that Birch ‘would not have been found guilty’ had his victims not found the courage to testify against him.
Responding to a request for comment from , Fife Council’s head of education and children’s services Shelagh McLean said the authority took the safety and wellbeing of children ‘extremely seriously’.
After Birch’s conduct came to light, she said, a ‘full review’ was carried out into its child protection processes.
Ms McLean added: ‘Staff are reminded of these processes, and their responsibilities to listen and act appropriately if a child or young person takes them into their confidence.
‘As a responsible employer Fife Council cannot discuss individual circumstances of current or former staff members. However, we always take swift action against inappropriate or criminal behaviour.
‘As you would expect, it’s normal practice for us as an organisation to carry out internal reviews if things go wrong.
‘This is important to make sure learning is in place and that we can make any improvements or changes needed to current practice.’