A MUM found drunk in charge of a child at an Ellesmere Port school car park has been banned from teaching for at least five years.

Christina Manning, 35, of Little Sutton, was nearly four times the legal limit for drink-driving when she was found by police at Parklands Community Primary School's car park in June 2019.

The following month Manning – who had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to drink-driving and being drunk in charge of a child aged under seven – was initially sentenced at Chester Magistrates Court to 16 weeks in prison and a five-year driving ban.

Following an appeal to Chester Crown Court, Manning's prison sentence was suspended.

The case was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) in November 2019 as Manning was working in a long-term placement at Princes Primary School, Liverpool, via the Teacher Active agency.

Following a conduct panel hearing heard in private last month, Manning is now prohibited from teaching indefinitely, and can only apply for the prohibition order to be removed from January 2027.

Manning had given a reading of 130 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, nearly four times the legal limit of 35, when stopped by police in the car park of Parklands Community Primary School in June 2019.

Staff at the school had been made aware Manning smelt of intoxicants, and had asked her if she had been drinking.

Manning replied: "No, but I had wine last night," and was intending to drive to pick up her son from a nearby nursery.

Officers could see three children in the back of Manning's car, aged 13, 10 and one.

Manning had been at a barbecue the previous day and had consumed "a significant amount of alcohol", and drank one large glass of wine before driving as a coping mechanism for her anxiety.

The panel members "were clear that it was more luck than good judgement that nobody was hurt and that this could have resulted in serious injury to a pupil or member of the public."

The panel had heard there were several mitigating circumstances in respect of Manning, including bereavements which had "a major impact on her mental well-being".

She had felt under pressure with her job, and having worked for previous employer the University Cathedral Free School in Chester in 2016, she was signed off work with stress in October 2018, following events in her personal life.

Manning left that school and subsequently accepted a new role with the teacher agency. She had just begun a role as a childminder in 2019 when she was arrested.

In her letter to the TRA, Manning expressed remorse for her actions, adding she had taken positive steps to deal with her personal issues, including working closely with the Child in Need project; attending a family group conference and adhering to a family plan; completing an alcohol treatment requirement; attending counselling sessions; engaging with an exercise programme; attending a course for drink-drive offenders and completing the rehabilitation activity requirement imposed by the crown court sentence.

Her letter was backed by positive references from agencies involved.

Decision maker Sarah Buxcey, on behalf of the Education Secretary, said: "The panel finds that the conduct of Ms Manning fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.

"The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a finding that involved driving with alcohol above the limit and being drunk in charge of a child under the age of 7 years.

"I have had to consider that the public has a high expectation of professional standards of all teachers and that the public might regard a failure to impose a prohibition order as a failure to uphold those high standards.

"I consider therefore that a five-year review period is required to satisfy the maintenance of public confidence in the profession."