A British teacher has been struck off after allegedly drinking alcohol in class, cursing at students, and turning a health lesson into a chaotic dance party.
Alice Ashton, a former teacher at Ysgol Bro Caereinion in Welshpool, Wales, was officially removed from the teaching register after a disciplinary hearing revealed disturbing details of her behavior during a class in January 2024.
According to multiple student witnesses, Ashton—described as typically “reserved and quiet”—acted wildly out of character during a lesson on alcohol and drugs. One 16-year-old student said she was “swigging from a water bottle with orange liquid that smelled like alcohol” and blasting music from her laptop.
“She asked the class to do the Macarena,” the student testified. “We weren’t doing any work. She was acting very lively, talking with her hands. There was a strong smell of alcohol.”
During the same class, Ashton allegedly called students “little s—ts” and stuck her middle finger inches from a teen’s face.
“She kept jumping from her desk, getting irritated, and eventually got right up in one boy’s face,” the student said.
The incident came just four months after Ashton had been convicted of drunk driving.
Another student said Ashton encouraged some students to dance, and the class quickly spiraled out of control. “She got students dancing to the music, and it just became chaotic,” the teen said.
CCTV footage backed up the students’ accounts.
“The evidence is very clear,” said presenting officer Lewis Harris. “Miss Ashton did not remain at the front of the classroom. She was engaging students in dancing—it wasn’t background music. It was disruptive.”
Ashton denied singing or swearing at students in a school-led internal review. However, multiple witness testimonies and surveillance video contradicted her claims.
By the end of the class, students said the bottle of orange liquid was nearly empty.
Ashton did not attend the Education Workforce Council Wales hearing and offered no defense. The panel noted she showed “no remorse” and had only contacted them via email to say she had moved to England and was no longer teaching.
She has been removed from the teaching register indefinitely but may reapply after two years.
