Respected teacher, 53, who was accused of assault while confiscating a mobile phone from a pupil ‘takes her own life’ days before her trial
- Katherine Scouler, 53, was due to appear in court on Thursday over incident
- It is thought that the languages teacher accidentally caught a pupil’s hair
A respected teacher is thought to have taken her own life days before she was due to be tried for an alleged assault while taking a mobile phone off a pupil.
The death of church minister’s wife Katherine Scouler, 53, has shocked colleagues and locals.
The mother-of-two was due to appear in court on Thursday. It is believed the classroom incident happened as the languages teacher tried to confiscate a mobile phone from a pupil and accidentally caught the girl’s hair.
Colleagues are believed to have been ‘furious’ at what they say was a lack of support from her employer, Scottish Borders Council.
Last night, her heartbroken family said: ‘Her sudden death has left us completely devastated. No words can express the sense of loss we feel about her passing.’
Katherine Scouler, 53, is thought to have taken her own life days before she was due to be tried for an alleged assault while taking a mobile phone off a pupil
Mrs Scouler was seriously injured in an early-morning incident in her garden in Hawick, 50 miles south of Edinburgh, on February 4.
She was discovered by her husband Michael, a Church of Scotland minister and NHS chaplain, and was rushed to Borders General Hospital and then transferred to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where she died three days later.
Mrs Scouler had been off work at Hawick High School since October, having been suspended after a complaint was made to police about the incident with the pupil.
She appeared at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on January 30 and denied pulling the girl’s hair and ‘striking her on the head’ with her hand.
Yesterday, the Crown Office in Edinburgh said: ‘We have received a death report in relation to this individual. This brings any proceedings against them to an end.’ Police Scotland said: ‘At around 3.55am on February 4, police attended an address on High Street, Hawick. A 53-year-old woman has been taken to hospital. She died in hospital on February 7. There are no suspicious circumstances.’
It is believed the classroom incident happened as the languages teacher tried to confiscate a mobile phone from a pupil and accidentally caught the girl’s hair. Pictured: Hawick High School
Locals described Mrs Scouler as a ‘pillar of the community’. She and her husband have two daughters, Jenny, 30, and Heather, 28, who are believed to live abroad.
Mrs Scouler, originally from Fenland in Cambridgeshire, met her husband when he was stationed nearby as a soldier with the Royal Highland Fusiliers.
In 2018, she gave a speech to the Bright Eyed Daughters, a local voluntary group, and spoke of Hawick being a ‘very special part of the world with very special people’.
She told how she met her husband in Cambridgeshire and joked that she had ‘bagged’ her ‘own Scotsman’. She started working at Hawick High School in 2015, and joined the town’s Saxhorn Band after learning the trombone.
Borders Council said: ‘We are deeply saddened by the death of Katherine Scouler. Our thoughts are with her family. Katherine was a valued member of the Hawick High School community. Arrangements are in place to support colleagues or pupils affected by this news.’
Last night Rachael Hamilton, Tory MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, paid tribute to her, adding: ‘My sincere sympathies go to her family and friends.’
lFor confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org.
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