Getty ImagesA teaching assistant has been banned from classrooms for two years after telling pupils he had killed more than 250 people as a military sniper.
Scott John Trigg-Turner, 44, made bogus claims to a year eight class in Newport that he had been in the US marines, went by the codename ‘Kill Switch’ and still owned a gun.
A professional standards hearing in Cardiff was told wheelchair user Mr Trigg-Turner also claimed to be a lord, the recipient of an MBE and to have served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles – despite being too young to have done so.
Mr Trigg-Turner denied being unprofessional and had told investigators his words were “misinterpreted”.
Fellow learning support assistant Sharon Davies said she had become suspicious about Mr Trigg-Turner after hearing the stories he told pupils at Bassaleg School in 2023, including boasts about killing “in excess of 250 people”.
However, in an email to the Education Workforce Council Wales (EWC) hearing, Mr Trigg-Turner said he had “been diligent in my transparency in all interactions with pupils. I have never crossed professional boundaries and would never do so”.
He added: “I feel targeted and singled out. It is not fair.”
The EWC panel was also told he arrived late and left class early without agreement a number of times and gave inconsistent explanations to colleagues about how he came to be a wheelchair user.
A prominent Welsh international wheelchair rugby player for the Wigan Warriors wheelchair rugby league team and former Torfaen Tigers player, Mr Trigg-Turner was not at the hearing and was not represented.
He has made no formal response to the allegations.
But the EWC hearing was told that during a school investigation Mr Trigg-Turner denied having a gun in his house or saying that he did.
He added that any mentions of the military had referred to family members and that his comments to the class had been taken the wrong way.
Mr Trigg-Turner, who went on to work at Cardiff and Vale College after leaving Bassaleg, was struck off the EWC register in the categories both of learning support worker in schools and further education colleges.
Panel chair Helen Beard-Robbins said: “There is evidence of deep seated attitudinal problems given the lies he told pupils, colleagues and his line manager.”
The panel ruled Mr Trigg-Turner may not apply to be reinstated for two years.
He has the right of appeal to the High Court against the decision within 28 days.