Govind Tekale
A Northumberland teacher who defrauded Asda out of nearly £3,000 by using a 1p rotisserie chicken discount code on her entire shopping has kept her career despite a fraud conviction.
Kirstie Reynolds repeatedly used the discount code that reduced rotisserie chicken to £0.01 on full shopping baskets during visits between February 25 and March 30, 2023. The Prudhoe West Academy teacher obtained £1,030.77 fraudulently at one Asda branch and £1,700 at another.
A Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) panel heard the case on 21 July 2025, with the decision signed by decision maker Marc Cavey on 24 July 2025 and published on 13 August 2025. Despite her conviction under Sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, the panel recommended no prohibition order.
Reynolds was sentenced at South Shields Magistrates’ Court on 4 July 2023 after her conviction. She was ordered to complete 15 days of rehabilitation and pay a £400 fine, £3,000 compensation to Asda (exceeding the £2,730.77 fraud total), a £160 victim surcharge, and £85 in prosecution costs.
The TRA panel noted she had breached professional standards requiring teachers to “uphold public trust” and “maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour within and outside school.” However, they found her conduct was “entirely out of character” and partly linked to “work pressures” at the time.
In their published decision, the panel highlighted Reynolds’ remorse, noting she had “spent every day for the last two years reflecting” on her actions.
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TRA decision maker Marc Cavey concluded that “a prohibition order is not proportionate or in the public interest,” noting the panel found she “had and continued to make a valuable contribution to the profession.”
Since her conviction, Reynolds has secured a new role in an Early Years nursery, developed expertise in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and been invited to join a local authority SEND steering group – factors the panel considered when assessing her rehabilitation.
The panel noted there was no evidence that her misconduct put pupils at risk, which was considered in their recommendation not to impose a teaching ban.
The TRA, which operates under the Department for Education, holds professional conduct panels to assess whether teachers who have faced criminal convictions or allegations of misconduct should remain in the profession.
Similar fraud cases have previously resulted in prohibition orders, but mitigating factors such as remorse, rehabilitation efforts, and absence of harm to pupils can lead to more lenient outcomes.
As of the TRA’s published decision (13 August 2025), no public comment from Asda or Prudhoe West Academy nor any notice of appeal was found in the TRA decision or in major news sources.
The case was heard at the TRA’s professional conduct panel, which concluded that while Reynolds’ actions constituted serious misconduct, a classroom ban was not necessary to serve the public interest in this instance.
