Malicious female teacher at 600-year-old grammar school faces £92,000 bill after falsely claiming male colleague was an incel plotting to murder her

Published: 13:17, 24 June 2026 | Updated: 13:23, 24 June 2026 A female teacher at a prestigious grammar school faces paying £92,000 after she falsely accused a male colleague of being an 'incel' who was out to murder her. Chandrika Punshon embarked on a 'multi-faceted campaign of harassment, threatening and intimidating behaviour' - leaving her victim 'completely astounded' at the 'baseless' allegations. A tribunal hearing, held in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was told Ms Punshon was a computing teacher at the Buckingham–based Royal Latin School from September 2022 until February 2023. After leaving, she branded her colleague, referred to only as Mr AB, an incel - a term which stands for 'involuntary celibate' and is used to describe a community of men online who blame women for their sexual failings. Ms Punshon went on to allege the unnamed teacher would eventually murder her. The male colleague reported feeling 'sick' at having to defend himself against unfounded claims - and was eventually cleared by police. But despite her conduct, Ms Punshon later brought claims of race and sex discrimination, as well as race harassment, at an employment tribunal - all of which have now been dismissed. The Royal Latin School is seeking £92,903 in costs from Ms Punshon, with the tribunal suggesting she will have to pay it. A tribunal hearing, held in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was told Ms Punshon was a computing teacher at the Buckingham–based Royal Latin School from September 2022 until February 2023. The school is pictured here It is not the first time Ms Punshon has made an unsuccessful discrimination claim against the school - as she previously accused bosses of racism over the misspelling of her name. However, her claims of direct race discrimination, direct sex discrimination, harassment related to race and harassment related to sex, ultimately failed. A tribunal panel has now ruled Ms Punshon will have to pay '100 per cent of the costs attributable to the vexatious, abusive, disruptive or otherwise unreasonable conduct of proceedings', in her most recent unsuccessful case. The ruling added: 'The total amount of legal costs being pursued by the [Royal Latin School], which we understand may not even be the total legal spend on this case, amounts to £92,903.40. 'That is a considerable amount, but as we have noted, this is an extreme case.' A specialist judge will establish a detailed assessment of figures before costs are confirmed then determine the final sum Ms Punshon owes. The hearing heard that following her departure from the school, Ms Punshon sent emails to an employment tribunal centre, calling her former manager, Mr AB, an 'incel'. She also claimed Mr AB had 'pursued me romantically' and 'knows where I live'. In another email the same month, Ms Punshon said she had had a 'physical threat of violence' levelled against her and that it was 'credible'. She made a Subject Access Data Request and sent a string of other emails to Watford Employment Tribunal. Later in February 2024, she suggested if she were killed, Mr AB 'may be a guilty, murderous patsy or a non–murderous but not innocent patsy'. She wrote: 'If he feels like all incels that his "life is over anyway", he's never going to have a partner and never going to have kids.' Ms Punshon also reported the teacher to police for harassment. She told the Thames Valley force Mr AB did 'not have any friends, like a profile of an incel'. However, the hearing was told the case was closed by police and no criminal charge against him ever materialised. She was warned about 'the nature of your communication and unfounded allegations' by the grammar school's solicitors which had included insurance fraud and numerous defamatory statements. In a statement to the tribunal, Mr AB told of 'just how offended' he was at being called an incel. 'I understand that to be a derogatory phrase used to describe embittered misogynistic men often with extremist views,' he said. 'This felt personally insulting and rude. It is very offensive to me to be mentioned in the same sentence as "incel types". 'I also felt a sense of irony, given [her] unreasonable and vexatious conduct to date.' He added he was 'completely astounded' by her mention of him being her potential murderer. 'It makes me feel sick having to defend myself against baseless allegations,' he said. Judge Alexander Green said Ms Punshon should address all communications to the school's solicitors rather than contact individual members of staff. Regarding her correspondence so far, he said: 'I am very concerned about the tone and frequency of [her] communications. 'Consequently, I consider it necessary to provide instructions to [her] on how to conduct herself in this litigation.' A case management order was issued with which Ms Punshon will have to comply or face 'the very real risk of her claim being struck out for non–compliance'. Addressing her claims about Mr AB, he continued: '[Ms Punshon]'s behaviour was bullying and intimidating. 'She has embarked on a multi–faceted campaign of harassment, threatening and intimidating behaviour including making unsubstantiated allegations to the police concerning Mr AB's behaviour. 'Given [Ms Punshon]'s scandalous and unreasonable behaviour, the prospects of a fair trial are hanging by a thread. 'However, I believe that with robust case management, including case management orders which clearly spell out how [Ms Punshon] will be required to behave, a fair trial can still be conducted.' Costs will be determined at a later date. In April last year, a separate tribunal ruled a typing error in Ms Punshon's name had 'nothing to do with her race'. The teacher had claimed the errant letter 'a' in her surname amounted to an 'over-generalisation of Hindi words such as Himalayas'. This is despite Punshon being her married name, and the origins being English rather than Indian. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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