WA teacher barred from registration after stealing school computers and swiping a credit card for cigarettes

A WA teacher convicted of stealing laptops from a school and using a stolen credit card to buy cigarettes and drinks has been barred from registering as a teacher for 18 months. The 32-year-old woman, who had been employed as a casual relief teacher at a high school, was disqualified from the profession after the Teacher Registration Board accused her of serious misconduct. A State Administrative Tribunal ruling released last week revealed the teacher took four Apple MacBook laptops and an Apple TV Streamer from a school early last year. She exchanged most of the devices for money at Cash Converters after performing factory resets and removing their asset tags. The teacher was arrested in July last year by the WA Police Financial Crime Squad and charged with gaining benefits by fraud. The tribunal was told the teacher also stole a handbag from a communal area at a Perth hostel in August, then used a credit card from the bag to buy cigarettes and drinks at The Court hotel. A few days later, she entered a victim’s unit where she rummaged through drawers and cupboards and stole multiple personal items, including computers, car keys and clothing. In October, the teacher pleaded guilty in Armadale Magistrates Court to one count of home burglary, six counts of fraud, five stealing offences and one of giving false details to Police. She received spent convictions for each offence. The tribunal’s decision said the frequency of the teacher’s conduct showed a pattern of criminal offending that was not isolated to one incident. It found the nature of the offending — including theft and offences involving dishonesty — comprised a serious breach of discipline that did not meet the standard of behaviour reasonably expected of a registered teacher. “(She) took advantage of her position as a teacher to take items from the school in order to fraudulently sell,” the ruling said. “In the best interests of children, there is a need to deter other teachers from similar conduct and maintain public confidence in the teaching profession by reinforcing high professional standards and denouncing transgressions.” The woman, who had no other disciplinary breaches since she was first registered as a teacher in 2017, was said to be remorseful and had returned the school’s property.