Teacher jailed for welfare fraud banned from teaching for 10 years

Actions were “at the most serious end of the spectrum” and any lesser sanction than removal from the register would have been too lenient, says disciplinary committee

A court heard Daniel Alexandre Daudet had used a false identity to fraudulently claim social welfare payments including unemployment, Back to Education, and rent allowances between 2002 and 2015.

A music teacher convicted of more than 700 offences of social welfare fraud has been banned from teaching for a period of 10 years by the Teaching Council.

The council’s disciplinary committee announced on Thursday that it had decided to strike off Daniel Alexandre Daudet from the register of teachers without the ability to re-apply to work as a teacher for a period of 10 years.

However, it noted Mr Daudet continued to plead his innocence of the charges and said he could reapply immediately to have his name restored to the register if he was successful in any appeal against his convictions.

The committee’s chairperson, Melanie Ní Dhuinn, said Daudet’s actions were “at the most serious end of the spectrum” and any lesser sanction than removal from the register would have been “too lenient.” Ms Ní Dhuinn said a suspension would have been insufficient to reflect the gravity of Daudet’s offences and to uphold the reputation of the teaching profession.

Fundamentally dishonest

She claimed his actions were “incompatible with fitness to teach.” In fixing a ban of 10 years Ms Ní Dhuinn said the committee had considered the seriousness of Daudet’s convictions, the sum of money involved, the sustained nature of his actions as well as the reputation of teachers, and the need to maintain public confidence in the profession She observed that Daudet’s actions were “fundamentally dishonest” and in conflict with the core values and ethics of the teaching profession.

The 44-year-old French national, who used to teach music on a part-time basis at a private school in Ballyfermot between January 2011 and May 2015, did not attend the hearing or a fitness-to-teach inquiry held last month because he could not get time off work from his current job working at a customer call centre.

The inquiry was held as a result of Daudet’s conviction following a jury trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2017 for social welfare fraud to the value of €184,000 for which he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in January 2018.

A court heard Daudet had used a false identity to fraudulently claim social welfare payments including unemployment, Back to Education, and rent allowances between 2002 and 2015.

He was found guilty of two charges of using a false instrument and 711 charges of deception.

Investigators found he had registered for a PPS number under a different name, Alexandre Daude, in 2002 by using an altered French national ID card, while also having a separate PPS number in his own name.

Penthouse

The trial heard evidence that the Dublin penthouse which Daudet shared with his husband and Airbnb guests was rented for €3,000 per month and had its own private swimming pool.

Daudet, formerly of Baltrasna House, Spencer Dock in Dublin, had unsuccessfully applied in September to have the inquiry adjourned on the basis he wanted to await the outcome of an appeal against his convictions.

However, the solicitor for the Teaching Council, J P McDowell, said no legal submissions had been filed with the Court of Appeal by Daudet or his lawyers.

The committee heard that Daudet had informed the Teaching Council that he has repaid more than €10,000 of the money.

Mr McDowell said Daudet had been repaying the State €100 per week and had an outstanding amount of €167,800 by 2018 before he lost his job.

The solicitor said Daudet had indicated in correspondence that he was continuing to maintain his innocence and that his solicitor, family, friends, work colleagues, and students also believed he was innocent and vouched for his good character.

In fact, Mr McDowell said the teacher had suggested there were irregularities in the way the matter had been investigated by both the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and gardaí.

The solicitor noted that Mr Daudet had made reference to senior political figures stigmatising social welfare abuse and had expressed wonder at the level of pressure that gardaí and the courts came under to tackle such fraud.

“There were no custodial sentences for social welfare fraud ten years ago,” Daudet observed.

Mr McDowell said the teacher had offered no apology for his actions and had shown no insight into what he had done.

The solicitor said Daudet had demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that consisted of “deliberate and intended” actions over a significant period.

Daudet, who has described himself as a woodwind specialist, has been registered as a teacher in Ireland since 2006.