Teaching assistant told Newport pupils he had killed 250 people as a sniper

A rugby player and teaching assistant in Wales has been banned from classes for two years after telling students he had killed more than 250 people as a military sniper.

Scott John Trigg-Turner, 44, made false claims in his Year 8 class in Newport that he had served in the US marines, used the code name ‘Kill Switch’ and still possessed a gun.

The professional standards hearing in Cardiff was told Mr Trigg-Turner, a wheelchair user, also claimed he was a lord, received an MBE and served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles despite being too young to do so.

Mr Trigg-Turner denied being unprofessional and told investigators his words had been “misinterpreted”.

Fellow learning support assistant Sharon Davies said she became suspicious of Mr Trigg-Turner after hearing stories he told students at Bassaleg School in 2023, including boasts about killing “more than 250 people”.

But in an email to the Education Workforce Council for Wales (EWC) hearing, Mr Trigg-Turner said he had been “zealous about transparency in all my interactions with students. I have never and will never exceed professional boundaries.”

He added: “I feel targeted and excluded. It’s not fair.”

The EWC panel was also told he arrived late on several occasions and left class early and made inconsistent statements to colleagues about how he was a wheelchair user.

Wales’ well-known international wheelchair rugby player, Mr Trigg-Turner, also played for the Wigan Warriors wheelchair rugby league team and Torfaen Tigers.

He did not attend the hearing, was not represented, and did not make a formal response to the allegations.

But the EWC hearing was told that during the school investigation Mr Trigg-Turner denied having or saying that a gun was found at his home.

He added that when the military was mentioned, family members were mentioned and his comments to the class were misunderstood.

Mr Trigg-Turner, who went on to work at Cardiff and Vale College after leaving Bassaleg, was removed from the EWC register in both the schools learning support worker and further education colleges categories.

Panel chair Helen Beard-Robbins said: “There is evidence of deep-rooted behavioral problems, given the lies he told to students, colleagues and his line manager.”

The Board decided that Mr Trigg-Turner could not apply for reinstatement for two years.

There is a right to appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court within 28 days.