Teacher who told pupils ‘this class terrifies me’ chugged gin from a water bottle before vomiting in toilet
It has been decided that a secondary school teacher who “drank” a water bottle containing gin in his classroom and then vomited into the staff toilet will be banned indefinitely from his job.
Annika Kiran Kapur was suspended and subsequently fired from Djanogly City Academy in Nottingham in early 2025 after she was found to have consumed alcohol while teaching.
The professional conduct panel heard from several eyewitnesses who saw Ms Kapur slurring her words and acting in an “exaggerated manner”; This led some students to ask if he was drunk.
An eyewitness said Ms. Kapur, while drunk and complaining that her students were not listening to her, told her “this class scares me.”
Ms Kapur said she had made a “grave mistake” and a “terrible mistake” and admitted she was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
In January 2025, Ms. Kapur brought a water bottle with gin and lemon to school.
She stated that the bottle had been in her purse since her “birthday weekend” and that she did not realize it still contained alcohol when she started drinking it.
Ms. Kapur said she couldn’t spit it out because her students were wondering what was in the bottle, so she “drank it to stop the vomiting” and consumed about a third of the bottle.
Witnesses described seeing Ms. Kapur slurring her words and speaking out of character. One person told the panel he was moving with his hands and appeared unsteady on his feet.
The panel heard one student put his head on the table and Ms Kapur “gently lifted him off the table, by the hair”. Ms. Kapur claimed that the student did not lift his head from the table, but caressed him.
The witness stated that after being asked to leave the classroom, he began “gagging” and vomiting before entering the staff toilet.
Another witness said he had trouble getting the attention of his class and overexaggerated.
He asked Ms. Kapur two or three times if she was feeling “fine,” and Ms. Kapur said she was fine, just “a little tired.”
Some of the students asked if she was “okay” and Ms. Kapur questioned whether she was drunk after leaving the classroom.
When asked if the students were safe at the time, Kapur said it “wasn’t that bad”, that he was experiencing “dizziness” and that he remembered exactly what he was doing.
Ms Kapur is prohibited from teaching indefinitely, but can apply to have the restraining order quashed in April 2028.
