It Happened To Me

At 13:30 on 27 September 2007, I was taken to the head teacher’s office from my classroom by him. I was alone at this meeting, there was no support, no friend, no colleague or other advisor. He told me that there had been an allegation made against me of child assault and that he could not discuss the matter. The effect of his words threw me into an immediate panic and I could hardly stand. It was only at this point that he suggested calling my partner to help. All that I wanted to do was escape. He then instructed me to collect my belongings and said that someone would contact me.

I was provided with no details of the allegation and my mind struggled to comprehend what was going on and why.

In the end, a colleague came to my assistance and immediately called my partner who collected me from the car park outside school.

When I got home, I could not cope and had to get away. I walked around Chorley for a few hours to try to clear my head. My partner tried in vain to find me and as he drove around Chorley summoned the assistance of two police officers to help him search.

In the evening, my partner encouraged me to start writing a set of notes of all that had happened on the morning of Thursday, 27 and Wednesday, 26 September 2007. It was important for me to be able to recall as much as possible for future reference. These notes later became my statement and have remained unchanged since that evening of Thursday, 27 September 2007. A copy of these notes were lodged with my solicitor.

The nightmare begins ...