Maths teacher who was caught taking cocaine at staff Christmas party is struck off

Published: 00:21, 14 July 2026 | Updated: 00:21, 14 July 2026 A maths teacher who was caught snorting cocaine at a staff Christmas party has been struck off. Rowan Barnicoat was seen by colleagues taking two bags of white powder out of a suitcase on the night of the party and sniffing it through a £5 note. The 29-year-old, who taught maths at Pool Academy in Redruth, Cornwall, has now been banned from the profession. Mr Barnicoat attended the party with fellow teachers in December 2023, and told a colleague: 'I've got something stronger.' He reportedly wanted to take the drugs out of sight of the senior management team. At another point when discussing getting a taxi from the party, he told a colleague not to worry about the cost because he 'always has cash from dealing'. Another colleague saw Mr Barnicoat searching through a suitcase and taking out two bags of powder, which he placed on the table and began breaking up with a credit card.  Mr Barnicoat began his career as a maths teacher in September 2022.  Pool Academy in Redruth, where Rowan Barnicoat previously worked as a maths teacher  He then rolled up a £5 note and snorted the powder - which Mr Barnicoat said was cocaine. He made references to other colleagues about cocaine but said he was not taking it to the Christmas party as members of the senior leadership team were there. After the incident was reported, he resigned from the school in February 2024 and an investigation began. The case was later referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) and he was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct. Gamel Byles, chairing the TRA hearing, said: 'The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Barnicoat amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. 'This behaviour was outside of what is expected of a teacher and had the potential to cause reputational harm to the education profession. 'The panel considered that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if conduct such as that found against Mr Barnicoat were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession. 'Mr Barnicoat had not demonstrated any rehabilitative steps and did not engage with this hearing, meaning that the panel was very limited in terms of its consideration of what mitigating factors were present within the case.'