The man gave bottles of Britney Spears perfume to two girls in his maths classes. File photo
A Northland teacher has been barred from teaching after giving bottles of Britney Spears Fantasy perfume to two girls in his maths classes.
The man, who is married with children, also gave $100 in cash for one of the girls to buy lingerie and declared his "unconditional love" for her.
He also used a school laptop to access pornography at the college where he worked, during school hours.
The original offending occurred in October 2014 but it has taken almost four years for the Education Council to investigate the case.
The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal heard the case in Whangarei in February 2017 and struck the man off the teachers register, but held two further hearings in August and December to consider name-suppression issues.
The two girls involved and the college principal initially asked for the man's name to be made public.
The principal said the man had worked in other local schools, so publishing his name might encourage other complainants to come forward. He said the man also "had the ability to set up as a private maths tutor and it was therefore in the public interest to have the respondent named".
But the tribunal decided in August to suppress the man's name because of evidence that he had become suicidal.
The college principal then applied for the college's name to be suppressed as well because of the risk of tarnshing the reputation of other former teachers if the school's name, but not the man's name, was published. The tribunal agreed in December to suppress the college's name too.
The long-drawn-out case cost $42,137 and the tribunal ordered the man to pay half of that.
The tribunal was told that the man gave a Year 11 student a bottle of Britney Spears Fantasy perfume with a birthday card which read: "To a wonderful adorable young person; Happy 16th Birthday. May you rise to the heights of all your endeavours in years to come."
He gave the same perfume to a Year 12 student with $100 and a note reading: "This is for the most beautiful lingerie for a truly loving girl."
In two weeks in October 2014 he sent 46 texts to the Year 12 girl, declaring his "unconditional love", arranging to deliver a gift to her home, and writing on one day: "I am at school looking at your photo while writing reports. Miss you. I only wish you were near so that I could cry my heart out."
The tribunal said the man "appears to have been a leader in the teaching of mathematics in the [suppressed] area".
"He was supporting his elderly parents in [suppressed]. In 2014, shortly before the events giving rise to the charges occurred, he was advised that his parents' application to immigrate into New Zealand had been declined and he says this caused him considerable upset and distress."
It said the man had not worked as a teacher since December 2014, and psychiatrist Dr John Holden gave evidence that the man had been a client of the Northland District Health Board since January 2015.
The man's wife stated that he became suicidal in 2016 "when there was a possibility that a local newspaper would publish his name".
"She stated that on one occasion, if she had not arrived home when she did, the respondent would have ended his life," the tribunal said.
"She reported that the respondent had said that he was going to go to the school and hang himself in front of the principal's office."
At the hearing in February 2017, the tribunal had to take a break in proceedings after the man "demonstrated behaviour while giving evidence-in-chief, cumulating in an outburst which caused the tribunal to be concerned about his fitness to teach".
At the August hearing, the tribunal accepted that the man was suffering from "major depressive disorder and chronic pain" and agreed to suppress his name.