School prosecution

[Guest]

GMC have been busy.
Salford (you know the place the BBC always show when they want a library picture of inner city deprivation) Council and the headteacher of a local secondary school pleaded guilty to a failure to carry out a fire assessment and failure to maintain adequate MoE  respectively today. Fire at the school two years ago led to 30 odd children and teachers (hence WP Regs) going to hospital, though thankfully none seriously hurt.
District Judge sent the case to Crown Court for sentencing saying that his powers (max £5000 fine) were insufficient.
(That should have been 'about 30 children'....not 30 strange children).

[Simon Morriss]

Do you have a source of this information.  I am part of a group who will be interviewing for a head teacher next year and this information will be valuable to see if they are keeping up on the area of H&S.

Simon

[Guest]

The attached link may be of use

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/124/124826_head_admits_fire_safety_breaches.html

[Chris Houston]

The BBC also covered it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3917931.stm

[Ken Taylor]

Thanks for the information, Jane, et al.

I shall send this to our schools for urgent attention. It's quite scary really that it only takes one teacher to take a hurried wrong decision and for one budding juvenile arsonist to seize the opportunity and the local council finish up in court.  The implications if there had been fatalities would, of course, have been even more drastic. Teachers, at times, can be more difficult to manage then pupils and even odder.

[Guest]

Personally, I think it is about time a teacher was prosecuted. For the last two years I have been banging my head against a brick wall asking for the head teacher of my daughter's school to conduct a fire risk assessment. The school is in dreadful condition and I put in writing my concerns to the school and the local education authority. I even went to see the school's health and safey officers based at county hall and sat with them and went through my concerns. They agreed with me but a year after I sat with them nothing changed. I offered to help. Said I would happily spend time with them. All they had to do was sort out a time and day when I could attend. This never occurred. I have now moved and my daughter no longer goes to the school.

So am I sorry that a teacher has been prosecuted? Not in the least - I only wish it had been the headmaster of my daughter previous school.

[Chris Houston]

The headteacher and the council's sentencing was yesterday delayed until the 24th of September.

[Guest]

Sorry, should have posted this change of date...it has also been moved to Bury Magistrates Court, (though it will still be a 'crown' court). Apparently a whole day has been scheduled so there should be a result.

[Chris Houston]

Jane (or anyone else),

Obviously the sentencing is tomorrow.  Are you involved in the case, I'm keen to know the sentences and wonder if you would be able to update us?  If not, I'll phone up the court, but if anyone is involved and is happy to advice, it would be good to know.


Cheers,

Chris.

[Simon Morriss]

Jane

Yes I too am interested, as a school Governor it could have implication for me.  

Please post the decision or point us in the right direction.

Simon

[Guest]

I will post some details tomorrow.  :oops:

[Guest]

Great British justice system...judge doing three cases at once. Case adjourned until next Friday!

[Chris Houston]

..........anyone got any news on what happened?  Today was the day.....

[Guest]

£5000 fine for the Council and an absolute discharge for the 'fragrant' head teacher who had dvoted her life to looking after children!
Looks like you actually have to kill someone for the fire regs to be taken seriously.
So...to all you education authorities, go on...the risk is worth it. Even if the big bad FA catches you the nice judge will let you off.

[Dave Harris]

And yet this case was sent to the Crown Court by a Judge who said that the maximum fine of £5000 that can be awarded by the magistrates court was insufficient for this offence!