Yet another case of an outstanding teacher wrongly accused of assaulting a pupil being cleared by a court in short order. As the Telegraph reports:

'Hazel Dick, the head of science at a comprehensive in Peterborough, had the charge of religiously aggravated assault hanging over her for a year after a girl claimed that she had ripped off her headscarf. Yesterday, at the end of a three-day trial, it took just 50 minutes for a jury at Peterborough Crown Court to find her innocent... Mrs Dick, 43, was charged after Selina Sabeel, 15, claimed that she had sustained a scratch on her chin when the teacher ripped her "hijab" scarf from her head.

'The girl, who has an appalling disciplinary record and is currently on notice of expulsion after twice being excluded from school for misbehaviour, claimed that the teacher made insulting remarks about Islam during the incident. Mrs Dick had consistently denied calling Islam "a big joke" and, after the verdict, Judge Nicholas Coleman told her: "I hope you can put this behind you. You go with the good wishes of the court." Kenny Vaughan, 50, the teacher's brother, said outside court: "My sister is a religious woman and has always treated other religions with the highest respect. Over this hard period she has received a number of well wishes and prayers from Christians and Muslims. My sister would now like to be left alone to rebuild her life and get back to what she has always strived to do, which is to teach and develop young people." '

Why in heaven's name do the police and Crown Prosecution Service bring these cases, which are patently vexatious, to court? Has the PC culture now got to such a pitch that it has robbed them almost entirely of their professional judgement? When are we all going to come to our senses?

Posted by melanie at March 12, 2004