I commend all students brave enough to speak out against teachers who have abused them physically or emotionally.
To those students who make up false allegations, I hope you realise what damage such a claim makes to the teacher and his/her family. Shame on you!
I hope William Stuart’s story serves as a reminder for such misguided and selfish students to think carefully about the implications of a false allegation:
After a 23-year unblemished career as a teacher, William Stuart was arrested six months ago and accused of assaulting a 15-year-old girl in a corridor at Graham School, Scarborough.
During the court case, magistrates heard that the girl and friends had smeared an iced bun over the wall of the school canteen. Mr Stuart, an assistant head teacher, had shouted at the group to remain in the dining hall to clean up but the girl refused and began to walk away.
It was then, according to the girl’s testimony, that a “really, really angry” Mr Stuart followed her and backed her up on to coat pegs before pushing her to the floor.
Mr Stuart’s account was very different. The girl barged into him several times and threw a punch as he tried to block her path.
On Thursday it became clear whose version the magistrates believed. Mr Stuart was acquitted with the full endorsement of the bench and to cheers from the packed court. His wife, Sarah, cried tears of relief that the family’s nightmare was finally over.
Whilst we must severely punish any teacher found dealing inappropriately with students we must also do everything we can to deter students from making erroneous claims against their teachers.
Mr Stuart was just doing his job. He did absolutely nothing wrong. Yet for 6 months he had lost everything.
Tags: assistant head teacher, Education, Graham School, Law, life, Michael Gove, News, Parenting, Robert Goodwill, Scarborough, William Stuart
Topical Teaching 
September 19, 2011 at 1:27 am |
Mr S is lucky. In Florida you can lose the state license if there is an arrest. Your county may keep you but you can’t teach without a license. Per the arrest they don’t care if you were found not guilty, case dismissed, or not heard. I went through it for arrests and refused to enter a settlement. The settlement is really a plea bargain to go on probation. I refused and they really had no case with no convictions and got an administrative judge to indicate in 28 paragraphs why my incidents did not constitute moral turpitude.
September 19, 2011 at 1:30 am |
What were you accused of?
October 6, 2011 at 8:25 pm |
william Stuart is guilty,but is a very clever man indeed.He made the witnesses change statements to suit himself!Just because you have an unblemished career,and go to Church,you didn t assault Hannah did you?But you will always know that you did,and,in doing so,have destroyed every piece of self worth and trust that she ever had.YOUout aout turned it around with your chorus of supporters and your QC to make her the victim.Did you know that on that day,an hour before you chased her around like a monster,she had just come out of a very upsetting sesssion of therapy to help her come to terms with sexual abuse that happened to her,that is why she wouldn t return to you,and she had already told you that she wasn t involved.YOU DID PUSH AND THUMP HER,AND THE SCHOOL ARE DEFENDING YOU!!!!!!!!!YOU ARE GUILTY!!!!!!Perhaps it was not even considered that there were Christians on the other side too,and by gosh,Hannah has certainly questioned her faith in all of this.Hannah is not a “tearaway” or “delinquent”as people will have read of her.She is a warm hearted,kind,caring animal lover,who has triumphed through adversity,having been bullied at that school for two years by her sexual abuser,whilst not telling anyone.No wonder,perhaps ,that she found school so difficult,but still attains high grades.She represented this area at the Royal Wedding,for Girl s Brigade,for which she has given ten years service too,and is also a leader.She has designed a seat which sits in Peasholm park,she has designed a logo and a rent book for Yorkshire Coast Homes.She has played in alocal football team since she was four,and was the school captain last year.She designed the exterior of the “funbus” at the Ivanhoe pub,for which she won a large prize.She is aiming to bring about a dog training facility,to the area as part of the My Barrowcliffe project.She spends hours helping people train their dogs-she recently won the best handler at a dog show,for which she truly deserved.She has the most extensive knowledge of dog behaviour ,for her age.She does not smoke,take drugs or drink alcohol!!!!oh,i bet you re all surprised there!!!!I will speak out for her as she had no chance against you in court did she?She has been portrayed as an absolute monster,who went into school one day and thought “i ll just make up a story about a teacher,for the fun of it”.NO SHE DIDN T!!!A pupil from the school came forward to me,and wrote an account of what she d seen through a door,and i cried for a full day.Hannah wasn t laughing was she Stuart,she was bloody terrified of you,and you know it,but you had so much to loose ,you did the upmost possible to clear yourself.You had to sit in a caravan,and you lost weight,well i nearly lost my daughter.She was admitted to hospital three times leading up to the court case,as she had tried to end her life.To see her sobbing,curled in a ball,surrounded by vomit and charcoal,with her little arms cut to pieces,on a hospital bed at three in the morning,,has destroyed me.That is how much she knew that she simply would not be believed,and her fears were realised wern t they.A 15 year old child,who has suffered so much already,facing an ordeal like that.To this end,as a Christian,i am struggling daily to find a reason for all this,and how could i ever forgive?I am going to seek justice in this,and I HOPE YOU NEVER EVER TEACH AGAIN.
October 8, 2011 at 5:57 am |
Did you actually witness anything though, Marie?
October 8, 2011 at 9:45 pm |
yes,i witnessed the marks on her arm and back!so did the school,but they are covering up.I believe every single part of the incident,and so did the police,that is why they pursued the case.Let me tell you that there are many ,many people who believe her too,even colleagues of Mr.Stuart for that matter.The school are very clever with their choice of wording,”no official complaints” about this man,but i know different.The very next day after the incident,another pupil was pushed by Stuart so forcefully into a table,that his mobile phone was broken,but the school didn t do anything about that either.Another pupil has told me that she was purued around school by him,into a toilet ,and another teacher intervened,and allowed her to leave the building.As she left,she became aware of Stuart chasing her,and he did so ,over the road to a nearby shop.I would ask the question ,is this normal behaviour of a teacher with all those years experience?Absolutely not,violence of any kind is unacceptable,there are more constructive ways to discipline children.I have heard many past and present pupils,talk about this teacher in past months,and i have to say,the comments were mostly negative.What was unanomous was that Mr.Stuart could get extremely angry in avery short space of time,and was rarely a happy teacher.Why 5 schools in 23 years also-there are teachers still at my primary and secondary school now,from when i went there!I have very fond memories of those teachers too,absoiutely wonderful people,who i respected very much.A look from them was enough if you misbehaved,there was no chasing about the school,pushing and thumping.Mr.Stuart has won,but in his heart he will always know what he did.What has been the most hurtful aspect of all this,is the comments readers have left on newspaper forums,they don t know the right story at all,and neither does our MP or GP Taylor.Just because Stuart was found not guilty doesn t mean that he isn t,it means that the judges couldn t be 100% certain.I spoke at length with Hannah last night about faith.Her question in all of this is to why God hasn t helped her,and why he has believed someone who lied on the Bible,when she has loved and worshipped God so much.I struggle to answer this myself,although i do know that God loves us all ,and Christians are flawed beyond belief,we are not perfect.What has amazed me so much this week when she has met with a home tutor,is her determination that this will not set her back academicaly,and she is aiming high,The sad thing is ,is that she cries everyday and will never be the person that she was,a light has gone out,and in my precious family too.To this end,you ask if i witnessed anything.No,but did you,did Mr.Stuart s QC,his chorus of supporters in court,his wife,and all the newspapers involved?There are 2 people who know what went on that day,and i know,and always will know who i believe.
October 9, 2011 at 12:12 am |
Thank you Marie for taking the time to write your informative comments. I really appreciate getting your side of the story. I apologise if any of my comments caused offense. Please keep us informed with your daughters progress.
October 9, 2011 at 10:10 am |
Marie, I was wondering if you could please clarify 2 queries I have about the case:
1. According to the media reports I have read, this incident started because your daughter and some friends were alleged to have smeared an iced-bun on the walls of the school. Does your daughter deny doing this? Does she realise that these actions not only started the chain of events but also would have made it harder for her story to be believed? When one does an action like that without any obvious provocation, it paints your daughter in a bad light, which would work against her when trying to convince others about the ensuing events. If she did do this, has she shown regret for her actions – or in her mind is this all about how the teacher responded?
2. You claim that there were clear signs of your child being assualted in the form of marks on her arm and back. Did you document these marks? Were they shown to the magistrates? How did the magistrates rationalise the marks? I would have thought photographic evidence of your daughter’s injuries would have been a very powerful factor in your daughter’s case.
Thank you for your contributions. It is very valuable to get your side of the story.
October 11, 2011 at 1:39 pm |
Yes, Hannah does deny putting the icing on the wall.I t wasn t her at all,it was a boy who made a statement admitting that fact.She s shown no regret because she DIDNT DO IT.It was mentioned in court that it wasn t her as well.Hannah told Stuart that she wasn t involved,he should have gone after the right person.Oh,Michael.hindsight is the most wonderful thing,i have so many regrets.On the day it happened,I took Hannah back into school ,and it was the deputy head s suggestion to examine her.Mrs.Harrison lifted up Hannah s shirt,there was a mark to the lower right of her back,containing red burst blood vessels,and prominent grab marks on her arm.Her words were”yes,she s marked”,there was the headteacher,Gary Hancock,and myself also present.I should have taken photos,don t ask me why i didn t.In the build up to the trial,i was increasingly concerned about that very fact,but was told by the CPS that the marks were not an issue,it was the actual assault that they were concentrating on.I did point out that the marks were a result of the assault.I relied on Mrs.Harrison therefore,to confirm what she had seen in court.How wrong i was,she told them that she had seen “a faint red mark the size of a 50p piece.”That was it.I have spoken to a male teacher from this school today,who i shall not name,and he has told me about how the staff are told not to say anything,and pretend they havn t seen things,not just about this.It is also interesting that the head,assistant head and Stuart are all best friends.As you will know,the media will twist things to sensationalise.It is reported thatStuart is the assistant head,but infact ,he is the assistant head of a department,not the whole school.Today,the educational safeguarding authority have rang me,and advised me that Stuart has fimed a documentary for tv,and therefore,the media will be involved again.Yesterday,Hannah took her dog along to a dog show,and gained 4 rosettes and won best in show.When she was presented with a cup,i saw her smile for the first time in
ages.Today,she is back to square one,hence me still up at this time,afraid of her state of mind tonight,and what she may do.This is destroying my family.
October 12, 2011 at 12:00 am |
Thank you for answering my questions. Congratulations on your daughter winning best in show. Does she still go to the same school? If so, why? Hope your family can recover and put it all behind you.
October 12, 2011 at 1:31 am |
hello mr gove i dont want to seem impolite could you give slight detail of who you are that we are writing too not been offensive just to get abetter picture of who i am conversing with
October 12, 2011 at 4:35 pm |
I am an Australian Primary teacher who writes a blog on education related topics. My name is not Mr. Gove (and I am not overly impressed by some of Mr. Gove’s ideas).
October 15, 2011 at 9:12 am |
Hi Michael.No,Hannah certainly does not go the schoolany more,i couldn t have possibly let her return there .As soon as i recieved the court verdict,i rang the school with my decision.Hopefully Hannah will start her new school after half term.In the mean time,i have been provided with a home tutor for maths from the former school.This teacher has been the most wonderful support-she truly feels for Hannah,and understands the person that she truly is,and not what the press have said.I have had a very upsetting week.The educational sateguarding officer advised me that Stuart had filmed for a TV documentary,which was broadcast on Thursday evening.It sickened me to the core to hear him describe his anguish,and how he contemplated jumping off a balcony while on holiday.He was speaking softly and certainly is doing the sympathy thing.Of course i know that many teachers are falsely accused,and that must be so terrible for them.In this case though,there has been a gross injustice,and i really despair at how convincing he is.The two main witnesses said last night that they wished they had fimed the incident on their phone.I wish i had taken photos of the marks.I t would have been a very different outcome.
October 24, 2011 at 11:55 pm |
I live in africa and my children go to very good schools here but still not compared to the schools abroad.
My husband and I planned to send my son to a school in the Uk or U.S or any good foreign school but some of these stories I hear like the pathetic one of this young girl kind of scare me.
If a child over there in your country cannot get justice, what is the hope for a child who has come all the way from Africa and is not a citizen?
I feel for Hannah’s family. My only advice is to pray for your daughter that she will somehow get over this and continue to love her.
I believe God has a way of working things out.
March 1, 2012 at 12:46 am |
Just wanted to update you on Hannah at the moment.Hannah had a nervous breakdown in December,and was in hospital for 4 weeks.This followed 4 suicide attempts,and the impact of all this on my other children has been huge.Mr.Stuart had an internal Disciplinary hearing within the school,and went back to teaching at the school.He has been told that he must never involve the press again about this story,or publish a book ,which he was going to write.We had a meeting yesterday about Hannah s progress,her new school cannot speak highly enough of her,and her grades are excellent ,considering the length of time she had off.One of the most important statements that Hannah made,is that no one messes around or annoys the teachers at this school,as the teachers are so lovely,and genuinly interested in the children.I havnt recieved one complaint about her.I reached rock bottom myself after Christmas,when Hannah was in the hospital.I just started crying and couldnt stop.There isnt a day that goes by where I dont think about all the unjustness of the whole thing last year,hence me writing on here.Some o Hannah s teachers at that last school,have sent messages to Han via other people ,messages of support,and that means a lot.To this end,I can never ever ,thank her new school enough for what they have done for her,and all the proffessionals that have helped her.One very dark night back in December,when Han had been admitted following a suicide attempt,I spoke at length with a doctor and nurse who were also Christians. I poured my heart out,and they understood.I will always remember that night.Marie.
March 1, 2012 at 1:08 am |
Thank you for the update. I think I can speak for all the readers when I say that we send your daughters our best wishes and hope that she can forge ahead with the support of those that care about her.