A teacher who became attached to one of her young pupils and hid a knife he took into school has been struck off.
Jane Callister invited the boy to her home to watch movies and play video games because she was worried he had a “difficult” home life.
But when she caught him with a blade, instead of reporting the incident to senior staff at Elgin’s Seafield Primary, she hid it in her bag.
A disciplinary panel was told she did it to stop the youngster getting into trouble.
The 46-year-old resigned last year when details of her conduct began to emerge, but maintained that her “intention was innocent”.
She said she made only “an error of judgment” when she covered-up the knife find.
But she was ordered to appear before the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) to face five charges relating to her behaviour.
And the professional body decided she was unfit to teach.
Panel chairman, John Kilpatrick, said: “The facts in this case have been established, and Miss Callister has been dishonest in her actions.”
Miss Callister told the panel: “One day after school I was marking and went to collect jotters from pupils’ trays.
“I discovered a small multi-tool with a knife attachment, like a Swiss army knife, in that boy’s tray.
“I put it in my bag and never informed the head teacher, as I felt it would be detrimental to him.
“He was a bright pupil who came on a great deal in my class, but I didn’t believe the acting head teacher and he had a good relationship.”
The knife was discovered between December 2014 and June last year.
Callister later visited the boy at his home and when she spoke to his father and grandmother she learned he had been using it to help make a “den”.
She said the boy told her that he decided to keep it in his tray at school as it would be safe there.
Callister added: “He showed remorse and said he wouldn’t bring the knife to school again.”
The panel heard she also invited the boy to her home in Elgin “on more than one occasion” to watch films and play the “Guitar Hero” computer game.
But said she did so out of sympathy after certain school outings were cancelled, and because she perceived him to have a difficult home life.
She said: “I was aware that he was often left to look after his younger siblings at the weekends as his father worked late, and he got bored.”
She also contacted him via Facebook after resigning, to reassure him that her departure was “not his fault”.
Callister accepted that her conduct permitted a finding of impairment by the GTCS panel.
But she said: “While I accept it was an error of judgment, my intention was innocent.”
GTCS case presenter, Jane Hart, said: “You didn’t trust your senior management team to deal with this in an appropriate manner.
“You were judge, jury and executioner.
“The conduct required deception, and it required significant effort.”
She said the panel had “unquestionable evidence” that Callister knew she should have disclosed information about the knife to her superiors.
She added: “Public confidence would be severely damaged if this conduct was not found impaired and the respondent deemed unfit to teach.”
Callister’s name will now be removed from the teaching register.
Last night, Moray Council declined to comment on the case.
