Fake Torquay teacher facing jail for breach of trust

A bogus teacher has been warned she could face jail after a judge called for more reports into her mental state.

Julia Rawlinson, 44, has admitted forging certificates so she could get a job as a biology teacher in a secondary school in South Devon.

She was due to be sentenced by Recorder Mr Andrew Maitland at Exeter Crown Court but the case was put off to allow probation officers to provide more information. The recorder warned her that jail remains the most likely outcome of her case.

Rawlinson, of The Crescent, Brixham, admitted two offences of fraud, three of making a false instrument, and asked for three similar charges to be considered when she appeared before South Devon magistrates in January.

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She used a computer to forge a raft of qualifications which she then used to get a job as a biology teacher and an Ed-Excel examiner. She marked thousands of papers over four years but the marks which she awarded will stand because all her work was double-checked at the time.

Rawlinson also worked as a biology teacher between February and October last year after providing a CV and references which claimed she held a master's degree and doctorate in science psychology from Glasgow Caledonian University.

Police found three forged certificates at her house. One was a biochemistry degree from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

She had completed a Postgraduate Certificate of Education teaching qualification but it was invalidated because she had falsely claimed to have a degree when she applied for it.

Her fiddle was uncovered when the school carried out background checks and sent her certificates back to the universities which she claimed they were from.

Lee Bremridge, defending, said two psychiatric reports concluded she needed treatment to reduce the risk of reoffending. She acknowledged "a breach of trust".