A former intermediate school teacher who went on a shoplifting spree and took a car on a “joyride” has been censured, but a tribunal says her offending must be viewed as a symptom of drug addiction.

The teacher in her early 30s, whose name is suppressed, was convicted on multiple counts of theft that took place in 2018 and 2019 - largely as the result of her methamphetamine addiction.

She was not working as a teacher at the time of the offending, according to a recently released Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal decision.

The incidents included a visit to a Pak’nSave supermarket, where she filled a trolley with groceries and walked out without paying.

She also stole perfume from The Warehouse, an electronic item from Jaycar Electronics, cosmetics from Unichem and a bottle of Jagermeister from Super Liquor.

Other items were taken from Farmers, K-Mart, and Warehouse Stationery.

In August 2019, she took a car worth $25,000 for a test drive. A judge found she took the car for a joyride, returning it damaged.

On the theft charges, she was sentenced in the District Court to 12 months of supervision and ordered to pay $2000, while the motor vehicle charge resulted in 80 hours of community work and a reparation order of $1000.

The Ministry of Justice notified the Teaching Council and its complaints assessment committee [CAC] approached the registered teacher for an explanation.

She detailed mental health issues, as well as a methamphetamine addiction.

The woman claimed she was targeted by a non-consensual methamphetamine injection and had spent four years attempting to overcome the ensuing addiction.

A letter from her parents to the CAC said much the same.

The woman agreed to work with the Teaching Council to create an impairment report, which found her circumstances were largely in line with her explanation.

The teacher explained how she wished to return to the profession.

The report noted advice from her psychiatrist that there had been a “vast improvement” in her functioning and that she was attending an addiction support group.

“Responsibility, rehabilitation and contrition are important factors,” Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal deputy chairman Tim Mackenzie noted in the decision.

“In some cases, a teacher can show that they have turned things around and that the situation as a whole does not require cancellation [of registration].

“In other cases, the situation may be too serious, and the tribunal may have to cancel the teacher’s registration.”

The tribunal ultimately determined the teacher had “shorn herself of her previous methamphetamine curse”.

“That has not been an easy task and the respondent has done very well. She has engaged in a number of steps for both the methamphetamine and related mental health conditions over several years now.”

The tribunal ruled that the teacher’s offending was a “symptom of her illness” - not an indication of a dishonest and unfit person.

The teacher was censured, and if a registration certificate is regranted, for the following three years she must work with a mentor approved by the Teaching Council.

Six-monthly reports from her GP or another health professional must be provided to update the council on her progress.

Given the sensitive issues at hand and the fact she was not working as a teacher at the time of the offending, she was granted permanent name suppression.