A maths teacher who drove to school while more than three times over the legal alcohol limit and crashed into a colleague has been allowed to continue teaching, a disciplinary panel has ruled.
Siobhan Clarke, a teacher at The Priory Academy in Lincoln, arrived at work in a heavily damaged car with deflated airbags and a cracked windscreen following the crash in January 2023. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing heard that she was visibly disoriented, mistook her bank card for her phone at the scene, and continued driving her wrecked vehicle onto the school premises.
Once on site, she was found in a classroom by the headteacher, smelling strongly of alcohol and appearing “very muddled.” Police were called and later arrested Clarke after confirming she was over the drink-drive limit.
Clarke, who had been employed at the school as a maths teacher since 2014 after previously working there as a learning assistant, admitted to the panel that she had left the scene of the accident and driven her car—described as “crumpled”—onto school grounds. She then attempted to carry on with her teaching duties despite being visibly disoriented.
The colleague involved in the crash told the panel they had been stationary at traffic lights when Clarke’s car struck them from behind. “She seemed very confused and wasn’t finishing her sentences,” they said. “I would describe her as incoherent.”
Clarke was later convicted of drink-driving after pleading guilty and was banned from driving for 12 months. She resigned from her position at the school shortly afterward and expressed deep remorse, telling the panel she was “immensely sorry” for her actions.
Despite the severity of the incident, the TRA panel and David Oatley, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, concluded that the offence was an isolated lapse in judgement. As a result, Clarke was not prohibited from continuing her teaching career.