Christian teacher who told gay student she must ‘repent’ or burn in hell loses appeal

A Christian teacher who was sacked for making shocking ‘homophobic’ remarks to pupils has lost a legal challenge.

Svetlana Powell had been employed by the T2 Apprenticeship Academy in Bristol, where she had been employed as a tutor for students with challenging behaviour.

But she was let go after the shocking incidents in July 2016.

It is alleged that while covering a lesson Powell had become engaged in an argument about homosexuality.

A witness account alleges that she told one pupil he “was a bad Christian for believing in homosexuality,” and told a lesbian pupil that she “will be going to hell if she does not repent her sins”.

It is alleged that Powell “compared homosexuality to murder” and when challenged insisted “her opinions are always right because she is the teacher”.

Elizabeth Barker, the former Academy Manager, began action against Powell after raising fears in a meeting that the student was left thinking “she was going to burn in hell if she was gay”.

Powell was later fired for “gross misconduct” by Stacy Preston with immediate effect.

She launched an Employment Tribunal challenge with support from fundamentalist religious group Christian Legal Centre, which claimed she was a victim of religious discrimination and claimed in releases that she was “sacked for saying God loves you”.

But the employment tribunal ruled against her in the case.