accused of assault

[banksy73]

i was accused of slapping a student around teh face at teh school prom 8 days ago. up until now there is no log from police, and i have not been contacted by police. i have written a thorough statement of my whereabouts that evening. i have not slapped a child in the face. i have got a crb check that is clean since 2003. i am devastaed. my life could be over. i have two children with no previous criminal record. i have been suspended from work and have receiuved a letter saying i am to be visited by police an social services. what will happen if tehy do not believe me. what is teh worst that can happen to me. one other child said he saw it happen in a busy event. nobody else knows about it.help i am very very scared i am going to lose my children and go to prison. what will i be chargeed with. and what punishment will i be give. ;'(

[banksy73]

i do . of course but i wanted some legal advice . THIS CAME IN ON A search engine search . i wanted t find out what my punishment wouold be.....well i have not done it ..but i already am worried no one would believe me..why would they if two kids have come forth? seems i have no chance of bein believed ;.< thank you XX must go son has cricket match in teh am...all your words have ben invaluable bless x

[brenda]

Will be here for you tomorrow ,if you want to talk.
Brenda.

[philkool]

Gotta be a wind up surely

[paraffin]

Hello again banksy: Thanks for that. This is an odd situation indeed.

From what you say, the school have suspended you (indefinitely), they've made you aware (very vaguely by the sound of it) that a complaint of assault has allegedly been made against you, they've not given you any further details of this allegation, and have advised you to sit at home to await contact from the cyps and the Police within about the next 4 weeks.

To be honest, I'm at a loss to see why you've been suspended. Given that you say you were there as a guest, and I take it that the prom was not even on school premises, then any allegation of an assault would be a matter between whoever made it and the accused person, not the school.

I can only assume that the pupil concerned has reported the allegation on Monday at school? That being the case, the head teacher should have advised the pupil that if he/she wished to pursue a complaint, they should have gone with their parents to the Police Station nearest to where the alleged assault took place to make an official complaint.

You should have been fully informed by the head teacher of what had happened for, unless you were arrested or questioned about the allegation, the school should not be suspending you. I don't know on what authority they've done it.

You really need support from somewhere. You cannot be expected by the school to simply sit at home while everything is done behind your back. That is not on. We're in the 21st century, not the Dark Ages.

I believe you've said that you have a union rep? In which case, get he or she to make some urgent enquiries on your behalf to find out what's going on. If only for your peace of mind.

I won't go any further at the moment. You've obviously got enough on your plate. It may help if you can update us as to what's going on, as I believe that some of us could probably give you further advice. The

[banksy73]

thank you ...again you don't know how priceless this is..my rep believes i did not do it he keeps saying things he said that one specific union member from the same union as me is against me and i think maybe it was her who said it was me, he told to mention her name when being interviewed that she told me i would def lose my job on monday for bein drunk wit no memory, she said to me on the eve i was wasted and i would def lose my job on monday. i have apparently recieved statements of support from my supervisor disagreeing with what she said as i was with her at around half eleven talking coherently, i have also had a letter of support from the behavior manager saying the same thing, these people are def. people who would not lie for me. they are there and paid to look after kids not ta s, i called my supervisor at one am on the Friday saying i was to lose my job on monday...she said no way , she said that my behavior was fine she said she could not understand what was going on why people said this about me she said it all sounded very strange, next thing i know i am in a meeting with my vice principal sayin, i am not going to lose my job at all every thing was ok, this was on nine thirty am on Monday am, i was told we were having an informal chat and my boss said it was fine, no disciplinary formalities were given at all........the next thing a couple of ta's were looking at me strangely all day monday, then i go to work tuesday morning and am called into office told to leave premises not contact anyone due to an allegation of slapping. i was given the impression later that day it had come from a member of staff who had told management that a child had told them this had occured.

[banksy73]

one teacher came up to me and asked in a weird way have you been seen yet, i sadi yes and she shook her head and walked off it was like she was disappointed i was there. i should say my training is not mainstream it is waldorf steiner, very dif. from mainstream, i use methodoligies that ar enot mainstream wi my students involving lots of coloured crayons border celtic knot work , to say the least, i am dif from evryone and tehy all call me a mad hippy, i am not a chrisitian but spiritual, which seems to be making a differnece i dont kno why though, i have a face piercing which my boss said i can wear no prob which i have been wearing for a year...is this all relevant??? i am not strainght looking i am very neat and tidy, but i dont fit in to teh mainstream kind of thing, my kids will be going to this school so why would embarass myselfey by slapping a student round the face, it is a very small town indeed , i would prob know the family of the child, apparently callin polive an cyps is company policy. will they believe me..it almost feels like a witch hunt...also my temp contract is up for renewal this month.....is this coincidence or not?????

[paraffin]

Hi again, banksy:

Firstly, I'm not familiar with the way schools operate these days but I have got wide experience of how the Police operate and what's possibly going to happen from that perspective.

So, on that basis, let me give you a few scenarios based on what you've described:

1. The pupil concerned makes a formal complaint to the Police that you slapped his face. He has no visible injury. He has a witness.
The Police could take written statements from him and his witness. You may then be contacted by the Police and asked to attend the Police Station to be interviewed under caution about the allegations.
You would NOT be under arrest at that stage and the interviewing Officer would explain the whole procedure to you, including that if you chose to leave before the end of the interview, you could be arrested and detained(but not for long), and you would then either be charged, released on Bail or released without charge.
OR
2. The pupil makes the allegation to the school but declines to make a complaint to the Police. The school suspend you, as has happened, while they try to get to the bottom of the matter. The school cannot get the Police involved without the pupil himself being involved in the process.
In this instance, it would purely be up to the school to decide your fate. It would be an internal matter for their powers that be to investigae and resolve according to their procedures and disciplinary guidelines.

(Continued)

[banksy73]

gosh. having never being inside a police cell. i am very frightened. i really am. i very scared. do you think it is likely tehy will arrest me? what about my children?
and also...as i didnot do this, can i claim compensation for all of this?

[paraffin]

(Continued)

You must be sure of your own facts about what happened. For example, why would this pupil come out of the woodwork and make such a claim? What possible motivation could he have? Why would he pick on you, for example, and no other staff member? If you were drinking, can you remember everything that happened? Did you have any dealings with that pupil at all during the evening?

Make sure that you remain in daily contact with your rep who should, within reason, be acting in your interests. Keep a written log of everything to date which has happened. Times, dates etc. It may serve you well later.

If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.

[brenda]

banksy 73--paraffin is absolutely right about writing a log of events.

There are several things you may like to think

about and include such as,-----

1. How do you in ordinary circumstances get on with the pupils?
2 Has there ever been an incident or a situation between you and a pupil, which might give rise to spitefulness on the part of the pupil. However small that incident may be, write it down.
3 On the night of the prom , try really hard to recall , to whom you spoke , what was said and so on.
4Did anything arise that would warrant a slap being given?

Go through everything calmly and re write things if you have missed anything out, because our memory can let us down after something has happened.and we are very distressed by accusations.
Keep a copy of your log , so that if anyone needs it , school authorities, police you have a copy yourself.

It is hard sometimes to think clearly about things that have happened , so take your time, and consider every possible happening.
If you are called for interview at your school, insist on the union rep being present.
If you are going to be interviewed at the Police station your unoin should be able to provide a solicitor, if not get one of your own.
Good luck.