CHAPTER 26 - Page 294

The 'trial' begins
TUESDAY, 9TH TO FRIDAY, 12th APRIL 2002
If you propose to speak, always ask yourself
  - Is it true, is necessary, is it kind ? Gautama Buddha (563 - 481 BC)

Finally the big day had arrived. It had been a long trawl. The tension for me was high so I could not imagine the poor headteacher's feelings having to face his accusers. It would be an ordeal for him to sit through and be confronted by a barrage of accusations, prevarications, distortions of fact and even untruths - death by a thousand knives. Would 'they' now be able to prove Denis' guilt after the careful 'management' of all the 'so-called' evidence? The LEA had spent much time and resources to do just that.

Ironically the 9th April 2002, was also the day exactly a year previously when my Labour group had endorsed Chris Pratt's precipitous Press statement condemning the governors for the 'serious weaknesses' of the OFSTED Inspection by publicly removing their delegated powers, and by falsely pointing the finger directly at the school's management i.e. the headteacher. It had been a long punishing haul for Denis Sweeney and for the people still involved in supporting him. The time this had taken was so designed to demoralise. There would be no turning back now.

I faxed Denis a good luck note. He had been very keyed up and anxious every time I had seen him over the previous few weeks. The whole process of this enquiry had been excruciatingly painful and very damaging, but now regardless of outcome Denis could see an end to the enquiry. The whole process would take five days altogether, 9th to 12th April inclusive, and would have to be reconvened for final submissions on the 24th April 2002. The 24th April was the date exactly a year before, when Denis and Tony Richardson had attended their first meeting with Chris Pratt, hopeful that he would reverse the headteacher's suspension.

The Disciplinary hearing was being conducted at Flixton House, in Flixton . It was one of the council's properties - a nice old building, refurbished and let out to community groups for various activities. Dorothy Houghton led the disciplinary hearing. Miss Jane LeFebre , solicitor, and Keith Wilkinson, (KW) personnel manager and recorder for the Authority, were also in attendance for the council. For Denis Sweeney, it was Tony Richardson (TR) and Miss June, the recorder for SHA. The disciplinary Panel was made up of three elected members all quite experienced in a number of ways:   Cllr Dave Quayle (DQ) (executive member); Cllr Judith Lloyd (JL); and Cllr Stephanie Pool (SP).

In order to examine responsibilities of the LEA or the abrogation of such, I will primarily concentrate on the responses made by Chris Pratt....

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