Teacher, 53, ‘takes her own life’ just before trial for ‘assaulting’ student while confiscating their mobile at school

A TEACHER is believed to have taken her own life just before she was due to stand trial for allegedly assaulting a student while confiscating their mobile at school.

The mum-of-two Katherine Scouler, 53, was due to appear in court on Thursday.

It’s thought that the incident happened in a classroom as the languages teacher attempted to confiscate a mobile phone from a pupil and accidentally caught the girl’s hair.

Colleagues are said to have been “furious” with what they believe was a lack of support from her employer, Scottish Borders Council, the reports.

Her family said in a heartbreaking statement last night: “Her sudden death has left us completely devastated. No words can express the sense of loss we feel about her passing.”

Mrs Scouler was seriously injured in her garden in Hawick, 50 miles south of Edinburgh in the early hours of February 4.

Her husband Michael, a Church of Scotland minister and NHS chaplain, discovered her and she was rushed to Borders General Hospital before being transferred to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where she died three days later.

Mrs Scouler had been off work at Hawick High School since October after being suspended following a complaint to police about the incident with the pupil.

She denied pulling the girl’s hair and “striking her on the head” with her hand when she appeared at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on January 30.

The Crown Office has confirmed there would be no further active proceedings against Mrs Scouler.

A spokesman said: “We have received a death report in relation to this individual. This brings any active proceedings against them to an end.”

Mrs Scouler was described by locals as a “pillar of the community”.

She and her husband have two grown-up daughters, Jenny, 30, and Heather, 28, who are thought to live abroad.

Mrs Scouler, who was originally from Fenland in Cambridgeshire, met her husband while he was a soldier in the Royal Highland Fusiliers and stationed nearby.

During a speech in 2018 to a local voluntary group called the Bright Eyed Daughters, she described Hawick as being a “very special part of the world with very special people”.

She told how she had met her husband in Cambridgeshire and jokingly said she had “bagged” her “own Scotsman”.

Mrs Scouler began working at Hawick High School in 2015 and joined the town’s Saxhom Band, having learnt to play 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, said: “My sincere sympathies go out to her family and friends.

“As the local MSP, I understand the school and the community in Hawick are being supported.

“While it is important that a full investigation is carried out into this matter, at this very sad time we must ensure her family and friends have the space to grieve the loss of a loved one.”

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We received a call at 3.50am on February 4 to attend an incident at an address on the High Street, Hawick.

“We dispatched two ambulances and a female patient was transported to the Borders General hospital.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “At around 3.55am on Saturday, February 4, police attended a concern for a person call at an address on High Street in Hawick.

“A 53-year-old woman was taken to hospital following the incident. She subsequently died in hospital on Tuesday, February 7.

“There are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.”