Teacher who tried to claim £1.2million for racial discrimination is jailed for hiding her criminal record when applying for a job at a school

Teacher found guilty of deception and perverting the course of justice

Mother-of-four sentenced to two years behind bars for a tissue of lies

She failed to declare a conviction for fraud when applying for teaching jobs

Later sacked for gross misconduct, Samantha Burmis sued her school

Her daughter later posed as her to throw the authorities off the scent



A teacher who claimed £1.2 million after winning a racial discrimination claim has been jailed for two years for hiding her criminal record when applying for a post at a school.

Samantha Burmis, of Bellman Avenue in Gravesend, was sentenced in her absence at Maidstone Crown Court today.

The mother-of-four had denied obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception and perverting the course of justice, but was convicted of both charges last month.

Guilty: Samantha Burmis spun a tangled web of lies, including getting her daughter to pose as her to avoid finger print detection

She was not able to attend her sentencing as she had taken an overdose of pills and alcohol shortly before she was due to appear and was admitted to Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC branded the 44-year-old 'devious, manipulative and thoroughly dishonest', adding she was prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to serve her own selfish interests.

Burmis' criminal past dated back to January 1995, when she was jailed for a year at Harrow Crown Court for a £90,000 mortgage fraud.

At her latest trial, Burmis denied she had either served a prison sentence or had a criminal record, but p olice had her finger prints from when she was originally arrested.

Lies: Samantha Burmis had denied having a criminal record, despite police having finger print evidence

After her release, she studied law at the University of Kent in Canterbury, and later trained to be a teacher at the University of Greenwich.

She then applied for a teaching post at Aylesford School in Maidstone, but crucially failed to reveal her conviction for fraud.

The court heard Burmis made similar applications to Homewood School in Tenterden and Swadelands School in Lenham, Maidstone, again failing to declare her conviction.

At her latest trial, Prosector Ed Connell said: ' The decision by her not to disclose previous convictions was deliberate because she feared if she did disclose them she would jeopardise her chances of being employed by the school.'

She was employed by the school from May 2001 to February 2005, when she was sacked for gross misconduct.

In 2007 she sued Aylesford School for £1.2million for unfair dismissal, claiming racial and sexual discrimination.

Burmis won her case after a 42-day hearing, but during the case it emerged she may have had a criminal conviction, an accusation she flatly denied.

Mr Connell said: ' Having lied on her application form to Aylesford School she was no doubt aware if her previous convictions came to light she would have committed an offence.

' In all likelihood she would have been dismissed from her job and prosecuted for that.

' She knew if her lie about her background was found out before the tribunal concluded her award damages might be significantly reduced,' he added.

' In order to maintain the lie about her background and clear the way for future employment she and her daughter conspired to pervert the course of justice.'

Sentencing: Samantha Burmis was handed two years behind bars after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice and gaining a pecuniary advantage through deception

In the end she was awarded damages totaling £28,500, although it is not clear if she ever received the money.



In an attempt to distance herself from her past, during her tribunal she had offered to have her finger prints taken again and hatched a plan for her daughter Nina Burmis to pose as her.

When a fingerprint expert went to Nina's home in 2009, Nina had answered the door with her face covered and handed over her mother's driving licence as proof of identity.

Nina had denied this at the trial, saying: 'I would not pretend to be my mother. That is ridiculous. I would not have given my mother's licence and covered my face.'

She now admits she lied on oath.

The plan unraveled because 24-year-old's prints were already on the police file - Nina had herself been convicted of forging a cheque to pay for a £3,200 breast enlargement, for which she was handed a suspended sentence and unpaid work at Hull Crown Court earlier that year.

She also had previous convictions for shoplifting in 2009, and theft in 2004.



Nina Burmis, of Empire Way, Wembley, was also sentenced today for her part in the scheme.

She was handed18 months imprisonment suspended for two years with supervision and curfew for four months.