Teacher Sacked After Criticising ‘Two-Tier Justice’ in Lucy Connolly Case

A teacher has been sacked at the behest of the National Education Union after saying Lucy Connolly’s prison sentence was an example of “two-tier policing”. The Telegraph has more.

In a post on social media, Simon Pearson, 56, who teaches at Preston College said Connolly’s online comments were “obviously wrong” but she “should not have been jailed”.

But he was dismissed after an internal investigation, prompted by a complaint from a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the school, found his online posts had the potential to bring the college into disrepute.

Mr Pearson told the Telegraph: “I am appalled by the way I’ve been treated. I’ve dedicated my life to education and to supporting students from all walks of life.

“Yet as soon as I was branded ‘Islamophobic’ for expressing concern about violent crime, I became a marked man. It was clear that I had to be found guilty by the college, it became a witch hunt, and I had to be eliminated no matter what.”

Mr Pearson is an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher at the further education college in Fulwood.

Connolly was jailed in October last year after posting an online message on the day of the Southport murders, that read: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f—ing hotels full of the b——s for all I care, while you’re at it take the treacherous government politicians with them.”

The 42-year-old, who had lost a child of her own, deleted the post fewer than four hours later, but not before it had been viewed 310,000 times.

Critics claimed her 15-month jail sentence was “a clear example of two-tier justice”.

Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, said: “The most striking aspect of this case is that the teacher was sacked at the behest of the NEU.

“Once upon a time, trade unions used to stick up for workers threatened with the sack for speaking out of turn. Now, they side with management and actively try to get workers sacked, including their dues-paying members.”

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: A leader in the Telegraph takes the same line as me about how shocking it is that a teaching union has reported a teacher for wrongthink.

The NEU did the very opposite of sticking up for a member of the profession. In this regard, it is a serial offender. The union has more than 34,000 members working in independent schools. Labour’s imposition of VAT on school fees clearly goes directly against these members’ interests. Some will lose their jobs as schools are no longer economically viable and close. Many more will see their conditions of employment not improve and pensions worsen as schools try to cut costs to balance their budgets and ameliorate the impact of the tax hike on parents.

But the NEU did not campaign against the move, saying that they could “best use their influence behind the scenes”. Ideology seemingly trumps members’ interests. Teachers deserve better.

Worth reading in full.