A Ray of Hope?

The acquittal earlier this week of science teacher Peter Harvey, charged with the attempted murder of a 14-year-old boy, is a rare victory for justice and common sense and brought a sigh of relief to us all.

Mr. Harvey, whose 25-year record as a teacher was utterly exemplary, not to say inspirational, lost his temper when goaded beyond bearing by an unruly class of badly-behaved children, whom he was powerless to discipline or punish, thanks to the policies of the Labour Government and the EU, who have combined to make teachers' lives a misery.   This particular boy, whose own record was one of constant disruption and bad behaviour, swore at Mr. Harvey, who, at the end of his tether and in a moment of utter despair and anger, dragged him out of the room and hit him over the head with a dumb-bell.    It took a jury less than two hours to acquit him of attempted murder, though he had already pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing grievous bodily harm. 

Discipline in the classroom is a huge problem in our schools today, and while I don't think teachers should go around hitting pupils on the head with iron weights, it is really important that they should have some means of punishing troublesome children.   We should support our teachers, not persecute them, and we should be grateful in the present state of affairs in this country that anyone wants to go into teaching.   Mr. Harvey should never have been prosecuted, and it is shameful that he was.   Congratulations to the judge and jury who were able to ensure that justice prevailed.