'No action to be taken' against Dudley nursery teacher who admitted to 'drinking on the job'

The Teaching Regulation Agency has announced that 'no order will be made' against a Kingswinford nursery teacher who admitted to having consumed alcohol on school premises. 

The misconduct panel was launched into the case of Mrs Rebecca Horgan, who, on January 17, 2024, admitted to having bought and consumed alcohol on the premises of Glynn Primary School, on Cot Lane, where she worked at the time.

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The allegations revealed that Mrs Horgan returned to the nursery at around 12.30pm after having been out, and two nursery teaching assistants reported seeing her behaving 'unusually'.

She was found to be unsteady on her feet, and fell onto the floor, as well as having slurred and unclear speech and 'red eyes'.

When a colleague looked into Ms Horgan's bag in order to fetch a water bottle, she instead found a bottle of vodka.

She reported what she had seen the headteacher, who spoke to Mrs Horgan.

Mrs Horgan admitted to having consumed alcohol before continuing to behave unusually and remain unsteady on her feet.

Later the same day, a colleague of Mrs Horgan also found an empty bottle of vodka inside a school cupboard.

The panel reported that Mrs Horgan reported the factual allegations against her, as well as signing a statement of agreed facts to the effect.

The misconduct panel, held on December 3, 2025, found that on January 17, Mrs Horgan had bought alcohol onto school premises, consumed alcohol on school premises during work hours, and was inebriated on school premises during work hours.

Considering mitigating factors, the panel found that while there was no evidence that Mrs Horgan was acting under duress, the incident did occur during a period of illness.

It was also found that prior to the incident, Mrs Horgan had a 'previously good history' of teaching, consistently demonstrating high standards in both her personal and professional conduct, and contributing positively to the education sector.

The panel agreed that the incident was 'out of character'.

The panel also considered the 'high number' of 'highly positive character references', and personal testimonials about Mrs Horgan.

Mrs Horgan had later returned to the education sector as a teaching assistant from September 2024, with testimonials from senior leaders at the school referring to Mrs Horgan as an 'integral part of the school staff team'.

The panel agreed that Mrs Horgan's evidence was 'credible and realistic'; showing both insight and remorse.

The panel agreed that the recommendation of 'no prohibition order' would be a 'proportionate and appropriate response', instead saying that the publication of the facts was 'sufficient' to 'send an appropriate message'.

Decision maker of the panel, Mr Marc Cavey, said: "Mrs Horgan did have a previously good history, having consistently demonstrated high standards in both her personal and professional conduct and having contributed positively to the education sector. The panel accepted that the incident was out of character.

"The panel considered a number of highly positive character references and professional testimonials about Mrs Horgan.

"The panel was of the view that, applying the standard of the ordinary intelligent citizen, the recommendation of no prohibition order would be both a proportionate and an appropriate response.

"For these reasons, I have concluded that a prohibition order is not proportionate or in the public interest.

"I consider that the publication of the findings made would be sufficient to send an appropriate message to Mrs Horgan as to the standards of behaviour that were not acceptable and that the publication would meet the public interest requirement of declaring proper standards of the profession."