Deputy headteacher faces the sack after giving his pupils porn star names like ‘Peachybutt’ during assembly
Graeme Cowie, 38, made the comments to sixth year pupils at their leaving assembly while stunned teachers watched on
A DEPUTY headteacher faces being struck off after he gave porn star names to dozens of sixth year students at their leaving assembly.
Using an online generator to work out rude aliases, Graeme Cowie publicly branded pupils as "Buster F***salot" and "Peachybutt" during the speech, while a girl with special needs was dubbed "Muff Muncher".
Mr Cowie, 38, who was at the time an acting deputy head, also made a joke about golfer Tiger Woods struggling to keep his own "wood in his pants".
And he declared "s***e and b******s to formality" during the address at Mearns Academy in Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire.
Mr Cowie's astonishing public meltdown, in April last year, was watched in stony silence by stunned teachers, one of whom said she felt physically sick.
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The highly popular teacher of maths and physics, who is thought to earn more than £60,000, was reported to the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).
At a GTCS hearing in Edinburgh this week he admitted all the charges against him, saying his "ego" took over, but Mr Cowie denies being unfit to teach.
The hearing was told that Mr Cowie, whose previously unblemished career spanned 17 years, put the names of 62 pupils into a “porn star name generator” the night before the event on April 29, 2016.
In a written statement, Angela Wotherspoon, deputy rector at Mearns Academy, explained that Mr Cowie was at the time acting head at another school but was invited back because he had spent much of his career at Mearns.
She said: “He went on to say how Pupil B had wet himself in S1 drama class. I could see him cringing.
"He then started going through the leavers individually after feeding their names into a porn star naming generator. The names j***ing, F-word and w*** were mentioned."
She added: "Pupil F, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury was not present but the name given was Muff Muncher.
“I thought I was going to be sick. I was struggling to get my head round what Graeme had just done."
Headteacher of Mearns Academy, David Martindale, also gave evidence at the hearing.
He said: "Graeme started semi-formally but then went on to say “s***e” and “b******s”, then said he was not going to keep it formal because they were leaving school.
“He told a number of stories... and spoke about scandals, one about Tiger Woods struggling to keep his number one wood in his pants.
“Then he started saying what pornstar names they’d be. The pupils were lapping it up. Pupils were referred to as Dirk Peachybutt, Buster F***salot. I was anxious but I didn’t want to cause resentment by stopping it.
“I thought if I did stop it, pupils might get their phones out and I didn’t want to highlight it and give him legend status.
"He had time to formulate pornstar names but not to put together a formal speech. Some pupils were vulnerable and he normalised pornography."
Mr Cowie broke down several times during the hearing, saying the speech was “the worst 15 minutes of his career”.
He said: “Emotion, ego and arrogance took over that evening. I’m so disappointed my maverick speech came to this.
"After struggling to get my words out, the mechanism of humour, my ego, got in the way. I lost control of the situation. The showmanship was totally inappropriate.
“I failed to uphold professional boundaries. They were now adults in my eyes.
“I take responsibility for my actions. I was looking for cheap laughs.”
After the speech, Mr Cowie was suspended from his role as acting headteacher at Inverurie Academy pending an investigation by Aberdeenshire Council.
He is currently working as a depute rector at The Gordon Schools in Huntly, after the council decided no further action would be taken by them.
Phil Gaiter, Rector at The Gordon Schools, stood by the decision telling the hearing: "Since his arrival, in my experience, Graeme has proved invaluable."
Mr Cowie admits his fitness to teach was impaired at the time of the speech but not at present.
The hearing continues.
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