"She's a Cat!" - Serious Matters Overlooked

 

Perhaps unwisely, I was listening to Nick Ferrari on LBC the other morning. He is considerably to the Right of James O'Brien, whose programme follows that of Mr Ferrari. Consequently, the subjects they cover differ radically. James O'Brien, described by James Marriott in yesterday's Times as "the world's angriest centrist dad", covers matters that could broadly be described as Guardian issues - human rights, the follies of the present government - rather like those covered by this blog (in all modesty). Ferrari tends to focus at times on what I would describe as Daily Mail issues - cross channel migrants, the misdeeds of the Left and the madness of political correctness. It is the last of these bete noirs that Ferrari was banging on about the other day.

The issue that concerned Mr Ferrari, as might be expected, was covered in the Daily Mail issue of June 19. As far as can be ascertained, a Year 8 girl pupil in Rye College, East Sussex, was scolded by her teacher for contesting a fellow-pupil for identifying herself as a cat. It seems (I stress "seems") that the teacher branded the girl "despicable". The Mail goes on:

"The teacher at the school - who is now facing a huge backlash - can be heard in a secret recording calling her view that gender is binary 'really despicable' and 'very sad'."

Please note - the conversation, as such, was secretly recorded - but more of that later. Back to the Mail:

"In the three-and-half-minute recording, the angry teacher is heard speaking to two girls and says they would report the children to a senior colleague, and they needed a 'proper educational conversation about equality, diversity and inclusion'."

In a predictably gloating tone, the Mail goes on to tell us that the girl's parent has expressed "fury online" and Rye College is facing a social media onslaught.

When we face a cost of living crisis, inflation and a war in Ukraine, it is amazing that a relatively minor incident in one of thousands of UK schools merits such prominence. It is far less amazing that neither Nick Ferrari or the Mail gave the school much of an opportunity to reply. Instead, conservative pressure groups have joined the cries of outrage. Andrea Williams, of Christian Concern (CC). which has called for an investigation, declared: 

'Teachers who raise Christian and conservative views at school, or who raise real safeguarding concerns about gender transitioning children, are being sacked and banned from the profession indefinitely...
Thousands of children in primary and secondary schools are being forced to absorb extreme LGBT ideology without their parents' knowledge.
Students are having to resort to recording what is being imposed on them in the classroom to protect themselves and expose to their parents and wider world what is happening."

At this point, I must step in. 

Firstly, I seriously question that Christian and conservative teachers are being sacked for their views. I know of no such sackings, and Williams & co offer no evidence ( neither does the Daily Mail ) of these purported events. Having paid a cursory look at the CC website, they offer no such examples, preferring to disseminate anti-abortion propaganda. 

Next, while the Mail, Ferrari and others express such concern for the rights of children to express binary views (which, by the way, I agree with) no such concern has been shown for the "anonymous" teacher involved. The Mail sanctimoniously proclaims:

"MailOnline has chosen not to name the teacher".

Of course not. Why should the Mail  do that, when it can be left to social media? That teacher now will be facing pressure from all quarters. Metaphorically speaking, the hostile media attention has left her with a target painted on her back. There have been calls for her to be sacked, without benefit of a fair investigation. The recording lasted for three and a half minutes, and hardly constitutes evidence for dismissal. If parents have a complaint against a member of school staff, there is a procedure to be followed, and it is for the Head, along with school governors, to take appropriate action to resolve the parental grievance. Whatever mistakes the teacher is alleged to have made, she should not face trial by social media, which would be a kangaroo court of anti-teacher bigots. Er..who was the Conservative ex-PM who objected to what he called a "kangaroo court"? 

What the Mail did not do, has been done by "Schools Week". They comment here:

"In a statement to Schools Week, the trust said it wanted to “clarify that no children at Rye College identifies as a cat or any other animal”. 

Put another way, this charge against the school has no foundation. Officials from the Aquinas Church of England Trust, which runs Rye College, met with Dame Kate Dethridge of the DFE recently. Schools Week continue:

“We have now met with the DfE to share an update on the events which took place before, during and after the recording,” a spokesperson added.
This meeting was a positive step and we will continue working closely with them to ensure any appropriate action is taken."

Such balanced discussion is in welcome contrast to the near-hysteria expressed by the Mail and others.

Unfortunately, there is a an angle to this story that has not been covered, or even noticed.

As a retired teacher, I am extremely concerned at the fact that a recording, made surreptitiously by a pupil, has caused such a massive controversy. An internal school matter, which could have been dealt with discreetly, has been blown out of all proportion by the tabloid press and so-called "interest groups". This has created a precedent for other pupils, faced with similar situations, to do the same thing. And, given the technical expertise of pupils with mobile phones, there will be scope for malicious activities by a minority to make fake recordings of teachers they dislike.

 I wonder what Christian Concern would make of that.

Murder, Psychosis and Day Release for a Killer

 

The young man in the photo above is named David Fleet. On 16 September, 2019, at the age of 20, he was detained indefinitely at a secure psychiatric unit. With good reason - on 28 February that year, without any provocation, he repeatedly stabbed a retired butcher, Lewis Stone (pictured below), 71 years old, out walking his dog. Mr Stone died of his wounds three months later.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that the murder of innocent people by mental health patients is a topic which I have returned to a number of times. I haven't written about it for a while, but I knew it would happen again. All these murders have similar features: a psychotic mental patient randomly murders an unsuspecting victim in a public place; the killer pleads guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility; the killer is sent to a secure unit where he or she may, or may not, respond well to treatment. If he or she does respond well, then he or she may be released, perhaps to kill again. All these cases are horrific and disturbing. What is particularly disturbing about this case is that David Fleet, according to Staffordshire Live, is already being allowed out on unaccompanied visits: 

"... relatives of Mr Stone - who was holidaying in Borth near Aberystwyth when he was stabbed, dying three months later in hospital - say they have been horrified to learn Fleet has been allowed to leave the secure unit alone and without supervision".

Mr Stone's stepdaughter, Vicki Lindsay, has described this astonishing leniency towards Fleet as "a kick in the teeth". As Fleet was incarcerated a mere three years and seven months ago, this is highly understandable. No such privileges would be awarded to a murderer without "diminished responsibility" and rightly so. But, besides the totally understandable outrage of Mr Stone's family, there are other reasons to be disturbed at David Fleet's being granted unsupervised trips out.

Fleet grew up in Borth, Credigion. He was diagnosed autistic at the age of 15. He smoked cannabis and self-harmed so badly that he was prescribed anti-psychotic drugs. He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2018, but (shade of the present) was allowed home for visits. During those visits, his mother, Sharon Lees, says that he was still buying cannabis and (ominously) buying knives.

Despite his mother's warnings to staff,  David Fleet was released into home care after four months. Ten days after returning home, Fleet left home with a knife. Walking through the Welsh countryside, he encountered the unfortunate Lewis Stone, a man he had never met. The BBC comments here:

"Mr Stone, from Staffordshire, was walking his dog Jock along the bank of the River Leri while visiting his nearby holiday home which he and his wife had plans to retire to.
Fleet later told psychiatrists if he had not stabbed Mr Stone, the voices in his head "were going to kill him".

BBC Wales says it has seen a confidential report from three weeks before Fleet's release in which a doctor cautions against the release as Fleet had a worsening mental state and was a risk with knives. The BBC go on to say:

"Just days later, he was sent home without anyone updating his risk assessment and staff were meant to contact him the day before the attack, but did not because of their workload.
He also did not receive a dose of his anti-psychotic medication".

Please note: staffing of the Mental Health sector was a crucial factor here. Also note: Fleet is being allowed unsupervised visits once again, as he was in 2018. We can only hope that history does not repeat itself, but there is every reason to be concerned. Like Lewis Stone's family, I find Fleet's lenient treatment an outrage.

Manchester University researchers suggest that between 2010 and 2020 there were 5,876 homicide offenders in the UK, of which 610 (11%) were under the care of mental health services.
However, while there was a fall in the overall homicide rate in England and Wales since 2008, the percentage of murders carried out by schizophrenics actually rose.

The Mirror reports:

"His (Fleet's) mother Sharon Lees is now calling for Hywel Dda University Health Board to issue a public apology to both her and the victim's family, after an unpublished report seen by BBC Wales Investigates suggested she had warned them over her son's mental state only three days before the incident".

I totally endorse this call for an apology by Sharon Lees. I hope that any such forthcoming apology will be more constructive and not simply a rehashing of the perfunctory bland expressions of sympathy that usually follow these killings. I further hope that David Fleet does not return to his murderous ways and slay more innocent people. I hope that I am not simply hoping against hope; previous experience warns against it.