Patricia Parrilla Herraiz to plead guilty to teaching unregistered in Alice Springs

A teacher who was knowingly employed unregistered at an Alice Springs school has fronted a judge. Find out the latest from court.

Patricia Parrilla Herraiz leaves Alice Springs Local Court with her partner on June 13, 2024. Picture: Gera Kazakov

A teacher who taught at an Alice Springs school while unregistered has fronted a judge, confirming her intention to plead guilty at a later date.

Patricia Parrilla Herraiz appeared before Judge David Bamber at Alice Springs Local Court on June 13 at a directions hearing, where she said she intended to plead guilty to one charge of teaching unregistered or unauthorised.

Ms Herraiz was employed at Yipirinya School by principal Gavin Morris – who was recently fined for knowingly employing her while unregistered.

On May 15, Morris was fined $4700 for employing two unregistered teachers – Ms Herraiz and Shihab Abdul Rahman.

At the Morris hearing, the court heard that Ms Herraiz taught maths, English, science and HASS to students in years 4, 5, and 6.

The statement of facts from the Morris case said during her time at Yipirinya, Ms Herriaz became aware she was teaching unregistered.

But when she questioned Morris about it, she was told they would “chat through the registration stuff” at a later date, according to the statement of facts.

At the directions hearing, prosecutor John Bortoli said that Herraiz’s matter was the last to be dealt with.

The matter will return to the Alice Springs Local Court at 9.30am on June 19.

Originally published as Patricia Parrilla Herraiz to plead guilty to teaching unregistered in Alice Springs