Well, it seems that they’ve let my brother out of hospital today for a couple of days - he’s got to go back in on Thursday for an assessment with regards to when they’ll do surgery. He’s still totally unstable on his feet, and is on bedrest. Which is very fustrating for him, as his computer is two feet away!
My parents are pressing charges, they’re not going to be intimidated or bullied. My mum is adamant that he will not get away with it, and has said she will take it as a civil case if the police suddenly decide that they won’t prosecute.
Well, I’m still sat here, bewildered. I’m half inclined to call the school, to try and talk to the headmaster, and figure out why the hell fuckwit’s only been suspended for a week. Does this sound like a good idea, or would I be interfering too much?
First, Angua, I hope your brother mends soon and completely.
But I keep wondering if this has happened before? If this kid has attacked someone, but had the charges dropped? Probably there’s no record of it if this HAS happened. But I do hope that this gets aired out completely, especially the bit about Mommy trying to pressure people into dropping charges for Sonny Boy. From the school’s website:
Sounds to me like fuckwit is NOT abiding by that at all.
Here in the United States, we can (and too often do) sue for pain and suffering. Is there anything like that in the UK? If anyone is eligible for something like that, I’d say your brother is.
I also remember reading, about 20-30 years ago, something about a Race Relations Act. It seemed to apply to the Irish in that case (it was a kids’ fiction book, so didn’t go into detail). Is there such an act still on the books? Could you use such a thing?
Fuckwit, his mommy, and the headmaster all need to have this aired out in public.
Your family is owed an explanation. If you feel your parents need backing up, why not? The headmaster is no doubt hoping it will all go away.
Your brother has a right to be safe in the school environment. The school failed in its duty to keep him from harm (IIRC its a statutory duty, them being in loco parentis and all)
In addition to the physical harm sufferred, your brother will no doubt feel stressed and anxious by being in the same environment and someone who assaulted him. It is simply not reasonable to expect him to cope with this. Particularly if he cannot be reassured that the school take the incident seriously and want to ensure he will not be attacked or intimidated again. Clearly, from the school’s response, he cannot possibly feel any such assurance.
May I draw your attention to DfEE guidence on assault which no doubt the headmaster will have followed to the letter :dubious:
Quite. It appears that a week’s suspension is “standard school policy” in cases like this. So it appears that the fact he’s been treated so leniently is only co-incidental with the fact that mother dearest is a school governor, colour me cynical. :rolleyes: However, having talked to the police, it seems that once my brother goes back to school, fuckwit will have to be expelled, or at least “suspended indefinitely”, which amounts to the same thing.
Actually, he does feel reassured. This is mainly because none of the teachers actually agree with the one week suspension. They all believe that fuckwit should have been expelled. The head of Sixth Form, a lovely bloke, would, had he had the power, thrown the entire fucking bookcase at fuckwit. Unfortunately, he has to remain ‘neutral’ and follow school policy to the letter. :rolleyes:
Thank you for that piece of information, I shall probably be referring to it rather extensively.
And now for some more light on what’s gone on…
It appears that, in the past, fuckwit was a victim of bullying. Hmmm… and was hit in the eye, and suffered an eye injury himself.
This leads me to the conclusion that fuckwit is a fucking pyscho! I mean, for fuck’s sake, he knows what its like, he knows the pain such an injury causes, and he still has the gall to inflict such a thing on someone else!!
He still hasn’t offered a reason as to why he did it. He has given a reason though as to why he ran away from the school on Monday after the incident - he knew what the consquences would be, and was scared. Well, you know what fuckwit, if you knew what the consquences of your actions would be, and you were afraid, then you shouldn’t have fucking done what you did in the first place huh?
And as for my brother’s condtion, its improving. He’s having to wear sunglasses around the house still because he’s still extremely photosensitive, he can barely focus for more than 10 minutes, and can still barely stand up. Oh, and it hurts for him to move his eye. :eek:
Lynn, there is a Racism Act still, and its been made even stricter. However, having talked to my brother, it appears that fuckwit never said anything racist to him ever. We can’t invoke that unfortunately.
The sad truth is you have to do a lot more than this to get expelled from a UK school these days.
My wife is a teacher and her school just had it’s worst week in linving memory which culminated in eight year ten girls mobbing another girl and kicking her in the head when she was down. A situation which could have quite easily lead to her death.
Result, eight girls suspended for one month. If they had been perminantly excluded the result would just have been the LEA ordering them to take them back. School discipline seems a bit of a no win situation to me at the moment.
Oh, I forgot to add, that my brother appreciates everyone’s kind words, wishes and thoughts. He’s touched that a group of people who’ve never met him or interacted with him care so much.
It looks like he’ll probably be off school until the New Year now - he’ll probably have surgery next week, and will probably take three or four weeks at least to recover from that. So, he’ll miss loads of school. Poor thing. I shall be sending him white chocolate chip cookies next week.
Galanthus - fucking hell. What the hell is out education system coming to.
I guess the problem, for the education system, is that the bullies and the disruptive pupils all need to be educated somewhere, at the end of the day - indeed, if they’re going to grow up to be anything other than thugs, they need the education more urgently than others …
Having said which … in the case of your particular junior thug, I suspect he needs to be educated somewhere where Mummy isn’t in a position to get him out of trouble. In my (thankfully limited) experience of bullies, the worst ones were the ones who had their parents wrapped round their fingers. To these parents, other people’s children might be nasty roughs, their little darlings were just “going through a phase”, and needed to “work through their issues” in a “supportive environment”. To my way of thinking, a “supportive environment” would be one that teaches the little darlings right from wrong … and makes the lessons as tough as they need to be, in order to sink in.
So I hope your parents won’t be deterred from pressing criminal charges - they will be providing Junior Psycho with a valuable learning experience …
They are not deterred, at all. Apparantly, it is illegal for the school to put any pressure on my parents one way or another. And, well, you know how stubborn I can be. I will not let my parents back down.
This part really disturbs me. I’ve worn glasses most of my life, and it seems to me that the fact your brother still had his glasses on is a strong indicator of how abrupt the attack was. To just haul off and punch somebody in the glasses…
Angua, I’m glad your parents are pressing charges, and I hope your brother is well soon.
My goodness, what an utter asshole! I hope your family is succesful in pressing charges, Angua - and I hope your brother has a speedy and full recovery.
Yeah, he did still have his glasses on. It was very abrupt. I think, mainly he is still in shock at the moment. I seem to be calling him two or three times a day, just to make sure he’s OK!
Coldie - thank you for your kind words. He really really does appreciate it. As do I.
Hmmm… Having talked to my mother tonight, it seems that fuckwit’s parents are still trying to get my parents to drop charges. My parents are not backing down, at all.
I’m still, however, trying to reassure my mother that despite the fact fuckwit’s mother is a school governor, etc, etc, there is no way the police could not press charges - there is more than enough evidence. I guess my mother’s just seen too much racism here for her to believe that something will be done.
My brother’s totally drugged up on ibuprofen, and the same painkillers that they gave my father when he fell off the roof and fractured vertebrae in his neck, I can’t remember what they’re called, but I do recall that they were damned strong. Consequently, all my brother’s doing at the moment is sleeping, with the odd few (semi)lucid moments when I call him.
Things like this make me so angry I’ve been sickened by the type of response you’ve apparently received Angua “Ruin his entire life because of one incident” my arse this motherfucker is evidently a danger to those around him and needs dealing with in the strongest possible manner.
BTW don’t give up entirely on the police - though there is clearly a lot of racism in he job those I’ve known have been fantastic fair-minded blokes.
You have to get on to the press NOW!!! give 'em all the facts ESPECIALLY the one about twatty being the bastard son of the governor.
Actually not only press but TV, radio the whole fucking shooting match. This bastard can’t be allowed to get away with it because he’ll only fucking do it again to some other poor guy.
Hope your brother gets well soon and REALLY hope fuckwit gets his
If Fuckwit is in the sixth form, then the school has much more leeway in how they handle him. The story Galanthus related is sadly not uncommon (and I still plan on being a secondary teacher in inner London!), but as Fuckwit is over 16, the school is not obliged to educated him.
The argument that this will ‘ruin’ Fuckwit’s life is bullshit. As long as he doesn’t commit another crime after serving his sentence for this one, his criminal record will be ‘spent’ in a few years’ time (I think it’s usually 5, but it may be more for ABH). It certainly will *disrupt *his life for a few years to come, but he’s only got himself to blame for that.
I should imagine the police will be only too glad to prosecute. We get frustrated when kids don’t get punished for crimes like this, imagine how frustrating it must be for them. They must be glad that someone is actually pressing charges for once.
Is the school going to give your brother any extra help, considering the time he’s taking off? Can they give him some home tuition till the New Year? (In short bursts with frequent breaks to allow for his condition). This is your brother’s A-level year; it would be adding insult to injury if his grades suffered as well as his health. That really could have a great impact on his life. What subjects is he taking - is he planning on following in big sis’s footsteps?
Hope he starts to feel bettter soon, and you and the rest of your family. Add my best wishes to the pile of bizarre sympathy notes from online strangers, at least it’ll make him smile at how weird his sister is.
