A PE teacher who was accused of having sex in a Premier Inn with an 18-year-old pupil has been pictured while out and about in Dubai where she now works as a yoga instructor.
Melissa Tweedie, 27, has built a new life for herself among ex-pats in the wealthy desert state since losing her job at Gleniffer High School in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
She strongly denied having sex with the 18-year-old but was found to have acted in an inappropriate manner.
Dressed in tangerine coloured leggings and a loose-fitting patterned blouse, she was spotted as she emerged into the sunshine on Dubai’s city streets after teaching a class.
Melissa Tweedie, 27, has built a new life for herself among ex-pats in Dubai since losing her job at Gleniffer High School in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Most of her yoga students are believed to be unaware of the scandal that emerged last week when she was struck off the teaching register in Scotland
Most of her yoga students are believed to be unaware of the scandal that emerged last week when she was struck off the teaching register in Scotland.
Miss Tweedie studied for more than 200 hours in Dubai to become a qualified instructor in Vinyasa Flow and Hatha flow yoga.
She was alleged to have slept with the boy in the Glasgow hotel on the night of a school’s prom in June 2017 when she was aged 22.
A General Teaching Council of Scotland panel ruled that the pupil’s claim that he had sex with her was not proven by the evidence presented.
But the panel accepted that she had kissed the boy, known only as Pupil A, and had been alone on a bed with him.
She was issued with a removal order after the panel found her conduct fell significantly short of the standard expected of a registered teacher.
The hearing was told that Miss Tweedie was seen downing shots with students and dancing ‘inappropriately’ with Pupil A during the leavers’ night at the SWG3 event venue in Glasgow.
She was then said to have joined a number of pupils at the Premier Inn where they had booked rooms to stay the night.
She was alleged to have slept with the boy in the Glasgow hotel on the night of a school’s prom in June 2017 when she was aged 22
The hearing was told that her headteacher David Nicholls was called at 1.45am by an ‘alarmed’ teenager who claimed to have spotted her with Pupil A at the hotel Mr Nicholls, who has since retired, drove to the Premier Inn, but was only allowed into the foyer where he called Miss Tweedie.
He said he finally managed to reach her on her mobile phone, but she told him that she was at home.
Mr Nicholls said Pupil A admitted the following day that he had slept with Miss Tweedie after he had drunk wine, gin, shots and beer. She later admitted to investigators that she woke up in bed with the pupil but denied having sex with him and suggested her drink may have been spiked.
Miss Tweedie also made claims that she only went to the hotel because she was concerned about pupils taking drugs after seeing a bag of cocaine.
A yoga devotee who has had classes with her in Dubai said: ‘She is a fantastic teacher and is brilliant at motivating everyone, no matter what level they are at. ‘I didn’t know anything about her being banned from teaching children in Scotland.
She is taking classes for adult women out here, so it is totally irrelevant. ‘It seems like she is being punished now by having this dragged up after making a stupid mistake many years ago when she was very young herself.’
Miss Tweedie now takes regular yoga classes at the Karma studio in Dubai where she learned how to be an instructor.
Her classes are conducted on the 33rd floor of the Marina Plaza office block where she and her fellow devotees can stretch and relax while enjoying panoramic views of the city skyline from floor to ceiling windows.
The Karma website describes its academy and studio as ‘a sacred haven for everyone who wants to embark on a life changing journey’ and ‘an art gallery with statues, temples, crystals and artistic carvings’.
It also carries a testimonial from Miss Tweedie praising the training she received, saying: ‘I can’t sing its praises enough.
‘It is much more than a training course, the space makes it feel like a retreat, that you enjoy going to each day.’
She was seen leaving the venue this week after conducting an hour-long class for a mixed group of women who had paid 105 AED each (£21) for a single class or a discounted rate for buying multiple classes.
Carrying her yoga mat in a black and white patterned bag, she appeared to be deep in conversation on her mobile phone as she stepped out on to the busy city streets.
She walked briskly to pick up a rented Careem electric bike from a nearby charging station and continued her journey on two wheels. She also gives yoga classes as one of the instructors for Collective Movement which boasts that it offers ‘Dubai’s first and only high-intensity, mindful movement experience’.
The classes operate from a second floor studio in the two-year-old Indigo Downtown Hotel in Dubai’s Business Bay district. The website for Collective Movement features a section where Miss Tweedie explains her philosophy and devotion to yoga since her role as a school teacher ended in the UK.
She says on the website: ‘Whether I’m practicing yoga, dancing, jumping up and down- I feel good simply when I move my body.
She was seen leaving the venue this week after conducting an hour-long class for a mixed group of women who had paid 105 AED each (£21) for a single class or a discounted rate for buying multiple classes
‘There is a release of those feel good emotions that set me up to continue my day with a spring in my step. It also feels like a form of escapism, as someone who has an overactive mind it gives me a time to only focus on the movement and every breath.’
The GTCS hearing was told that Pupil A had insisted he had sex with Miss Tweedie, saying: ‘We kissed, no one initiated it. We went downstairs and had sex in my room.
‘She stayed the night and we both left at eight. I feel really sorry for Miss Tweedie, I had already handed in my leavers form. In my eyes it wasn’t a student event.’
Police Scotland were alerted to the incident at the time and found that no criminality had taken place.
