Pawel Letowski, a maths teacher, was teaching at Burford School in Cheltenham Road, Burford on Monday, January 31, 2022 when he travelled to the school drunk.

A colleague saw the teacher ‘on the floor under a tree’ and thought he had ‘collapsed from a medical condition’.

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However, it later emerged that Letowski was drunk from drinking the Sunday night before.

A professional conduct panel was held by the Teaching Regulation Agency in June into Letowski’s behaviour.

It was found proven that he had been drunk on school grounds but given ‘the insight and remorse’ the teacher demonstrated and’ the contribution he will be able to make to teaching in the future’, a prohibition order was no considered proportionate or in the public interest.

During the panel, it was heard that after a colleague had seen Letowksi on the floor, he had gotten up but was ‘unsteady’ on his feet.

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He was taken to the school’s medical room where he was ‘struggling to hold himself upright’. His colleague stated that she could not smell alcohol at first but it soon became ‘very obvious’.

She told the panel: “It did not occur to me during the incident that Mr Letowski was drunk…if this was Friday night in Witney I’d have thought he was drunk but 8am on Monday made me think it was a serious medical issue’.

It was noted that the teacher had also referred to himself as a ‘waster’.

Letowksi himself told the panel: “On the morning of the 31, did drive to work, and accept that I may have still been under the influence of alcohol as I had been drinking heavily the previous evening”.

He said he couldn’t recall what he had consumed but it wasn’t ‘out of the ordinary’. He added that he may consider himself as a ‘high-functioning alcoholic’.

Due to the evidence, the panel was satisfied that Letowksi was drunk but noted that his fall may not have been solely due to alcohol.

The panel wrote: “[It could] also be due to other factors including his difficulty walking, the fact that the ground was described by witnesses as muddy and slippery, and the emotional stress he was experiencing at the time.”

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As a result, the panel was ‘satisfied’ that Letowski was ‘guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

Decision maker Marc Cavey wrote: “The findings of misconduct are serious, and the conduct displayed would be likely to have a negative impact on Mr Letowski’s status as a teacher, potentially damaging the public perception.

“I consider that the publication of the findings made would be sufficient to send an appropriate message to the teacher as to the standards of behaviour that were not acceptable.”