DAVID WATKINS SCHOOL BOY FALSE ALLEGATIONS ASSAULT TRIAL NORWICH MAGISTRATES COURT NELSON KRUSCHANDL HERSTMONCEUX EASTBOURNE HERALD HAILSHAM GAZETTE SUSSEX EXPRESS

Magistrates yesterday threw out a case against a head-teacher accused of forcing a fish head into the mouth of an 11-year-old boy.

David Watkins, a respected headmaster with a reputation for helping difficult youngsters, walked free from Norwich magistrates court after it was ruled that he had no case to answer. He had denied assaulting the boy at a school in Norwich last November.

Mr Watkins, 51, declared the decision "a good result for education" and criticised the Crown Prosecution Service and police for bringing the case.

Joe Ghirardello, prosecuting, had told magistrates the assault took place while Mr Watkins was trying to make the boy, now 12, put the fish head into a bin. He said Mr Watkins, of Old Catton, Norwich, had put the student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in a headlock and forced the fish head into his mouth.

Wendy Martin, the chairman of the magistrates, said: "We've carefully considered all the evidence given and reflected on everything we've heard. There was such a degree of inconsistencies and changes in evidence during testimony as to render the evidence so manifestly unreliable no reasonable tribunal could convict."

Mr Watkins later paid tribute to friends and relatives. "They have been there for me throughout," he said. "It's been a nightmare. It's been the most difficult time in my life. I'm not bitter, I'm disappointed. I don't blame the parents, I blame the CPS and I blame the police."

The headteacher, who has more than 30 years' experience in teaching, pledged to return to education: "I love it so I will get back to it. It's a good result for education.

"We've got to start saying to people: yes, children have rights and so have parents, but they have responsibilities, too."

Mr Watkins' wife, Anne, also 51, said she was "absolutely relieved ... He's a fantastic man and I love him very much, and he's a great teacher."

His solicitor, Simon Nicholls, criticised the police and the CPS: "David Watkins has not been acquitted on a technicality. He has been acquitted because there was not enough evidence for him to stand trial." The headteacher was acquitted after an application to magistrates by Mr Nicholls.

Earlier the court heard from Margaret Roberts, a classroom assistant with responsibility for special needs pupils. She had worked closely with the boy for two years and accepted that he had been a troublesome pupil. She said: "He was a cheeky little boy. He could cause disruption in the class."

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CONVICTION QUASHED OVER 'MADE UP' VAMPIRE CLAIM

A man who was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2004 after a teenager falsely alleged he repeatedly raped her in "vampire" rituals had his conviction quashed yesterday.

Leon Benjamin Forde, 21, of Lincoln, was jailed 18 months ago after the girl claimed he subjected her to a sex ordeal two years previously, when she was 13. But he won his freedom at the appeal court after the prosecution accepted the girl's testimony was undermined by evidence uncovered from a computer diary which suggested she had "made it all up".

TEACHER CLEARED OF RAPE TOO LATE

Graeme Paton - Published: 21 April 2006

A teacher who died in prison after being convicted of raping one of his pupils has been posthumously cleared by the Court of Appeal.

Darryl Gee was jailed in 2001 despite scant evidence to corroborate his accuser’s claims, which related to alleged incidents more than a decade earlier.

The music teacher, who protested his innocence, died in his cell from an undiagnosed blood cancer. He had served 18 months of an eight-year sentence.
This week, campaigners described the case as one of the worst miscarriages of justice they had seen after the Court of Appeal in London quashed his conviction.

It comes as government guidance designed to speed up investigations into alleged abuse of pupils is introduced in schools. Unions say this will reduce the risk of innocent teachers being smeared by false allegations.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “This is an extreme and tragic illustration of the consequences of malicious allegations and underlines the need for these new procedures.”

Mr Gee’s 88-year-old mother, Molly, awarded £62,493 costs by the court, said the case should be a warning to other teachers.

“It all boiled down to one girl’s word against his, and the jury believed her,” she said. “That’s all it took to send my son to prison and it has left me very angry and grief stricken. I don’t think anyone should have to work alone with a child – it is just too easy for an allegation like this to be made.”

Mr Gee, a supply teacher who taught brass instruments, was found guilty at Leeds crown court in January 2001 after being accused of raping and indecently assaulting a pupil in a Huddersfield school in 1989. He died aged 55 in August 2002, a month after a second appeal failed.

His conviction was eventually quashed when his mother alerted the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which asked a leading psychiatrist to report on his accuser. The study cast doubt on her mental state. It also emerged that the girl, now 26, made similar allegations against another man, whose conviction was quashed earlier this year.

Read more in the TES including the story of Charlie King. A jury took just half an hour to find him not guilty of sexually assaulting three of his pupils. So why did it take 13 months for the case to reach court?

SEX ATTACK LIAR NAMED BY PEER - 19th October 2006 by SAM GREENHILL

A woman with a long history of crying rape who sent an innocent man to jail was named in Parliament amid calls for a change in the law.

Shannon Taylor was unmasked by a peer who told the House of Lords her lies had put father-of-two Warren Blackwell behind bars for more than three years.

Lord Campbell-Savours used Parliamentary privilege to expose her identity and lambast the 'shabby' police investigation that saw Mr Blackwell imprisoned.

Legal experts praised his decision to speak out to prevent other men falling victim to fake sex attack allegations.

Mr Blackwell, 36, whose loyal wife Tanya never doubted his innocence, was dramatically cleared at the Appeal Court last month after Miss Taylor's background as a serial fantasist was exposed by a Criminal Cases Review Commission investigation.

But although his name was blackened, anonymity laws meant his accuser's was automatically protected, and she became known only as Miss A.

Even the appeal judges wanted to name her - but were powerless to do so - to warn other blameless members of the public.

The Daily Mail led calls for her identity to be revealed before she put another innocent man through torment.

Yesterday, Lord Campbell-Savours - said to be motivated by 'outrage' at the case - stood up and publicly did so.

He asked fellow peers: "Is not the inevitable consequence of the workings of the law, as currently framed, that we will carry on imprisoning innocent people like Warren Blackwell, who was falsely accused by a serial and repeated liar, Shannon Taylor, with a history of false accusations and multiple identities?

"As a result of her accusations, he spent three and a half years in prison following a shabby and inadequate police investigation, and was only exonerated when the Criminal Cases Review Commission inquiry cleared him and exposed her history."

The Labour peer added: "Shouldn't mature accusers who perjure themselves in rape trials be named and prosecuted for perjury?"

Miss Taylor's own daughter backed the decision to disclose her name, saying: "She is a danger and the public needs to be warned. She needs prosecuting for what she did. She is every man's worst nightmare."

Mr Blackwell's ordeal began when his accuser, now 38, claimed she had been seized with a knife outside a village club early on New Year's Day 1999, taken to an alley and indecently assaulted.

She later picked him out of an identity parade and a jury found him guilty, even though there was no forensic evidence against him and he had no previous convictions.

Eventually, the case was investigated by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which found that the woman had made up at least seven other fake allegations of sexual and physical assault, including against her own father. She frequently changed her name and police forces did not realise they were dealing with the same woman.

Her own mother has described her as "a persistent liar, very manipulative and a bully" who frequently claimed to have been beaten, sexually attacked and raped - all of which were untrue. She has a history of mental illness and self-harm.

The original investigation by Northamptonshire Police was exposed as shoddy, with Mr Blackwell's lawyers claiming that normal safeguards and procedures were completely ignored. He plans to sue.

Yesterday, a friend of 63-year-old Lord Campbell-Savours explained why he decided to speak out. He said: "He named her because he was outraged. He doesn't think it's got anything to do with the issue of rape, he thinks it's an issue of perjury.

"This woman made up the story and told lies and he can't see why a person who has perjured themselves should be protected, irrespective of the type of offence.

"Sometimes people have to stick their heads above the parapet in cases where the law is clearly an ass and needs to be reformed.

"He thinks the law around anonymity, particularly where false accusations have been made, needs to be changed."

Welcoming the development, Mr Blackwell, from Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire, said: "It's absolutely fantastic. I didn't think anybody would have the guts to name her.

"This woman needs to be stopped. The fact is, she remains free to carry on crying rape and up till now has been enjoying the full protection of the law. It's absolutely crazy that she could not be named and shamed, because innocent men need to be warned to avoid her like the plague.

"Now I hope she will go on to be prosecuted." But she is unlikely to face charges for perjury or perverting justice.

Northamptonshire Police yesterday claimed there was "insufficient evidence", while Crown Prosecution sources have cited her mental illness as a barrier.

But Mr Blackwell's barrister Anne Johnson said: "There is a clear public interest in her being prosecuted for perjury or the very least wasting police time.

"It's fantastic that somebody of authority has finally come out and named this woman. The issue needs to be aired otherwise nothing will be done."

At Mr Blackwell's appeal last month, Mr Justice Tugendhat admitted that similar tragic cases could follow because of the lies of the 'Miss A', adding that Parliament had not seemed to have considered this possibility when framing the law. Last night the judge said he did not wish to comment on yesterday's twist.

In the 1970s, the Daily Mail campaigned for women in sex cases to be granted automatic anonymity, to protect genuine victims of genuine crimes. Although Miss Taylor has now been publicly named, there is nothing to stop her changing her identity yet again.

Callers to her most recent address were told by her boyfriend that she no longer lived there.

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below?

It is unfortunate that in my opinion women seem to be able to make allegations and men are treated as guilty unless proven innocent. This spills over into family law where this happens all the time. It is time for laws to be changed and the system to be exposed for what it is. I take my hat of to the judge for naming this women. It is about time that more professional people i.e. judges and lawyers started looking at what is right and wrong instead of either following there own political agenda or lining their own pockets.

The sentencing for false accusations of rape should be as harsh, and enforced as harshly, as rape itself.

The USA also needs to wake up to the many false allegations of rape that are putting innocent men in jail.

Man freed but serial rape accuser remains anonymous -12th September 2006

An innocent man jailed for a sex attack was dramatically cleared after it emerged that his 'victim' is a serial liar with a long history of crying rape.

But because of laws that protect her anonymity, judges are powerless to name and shame her, leaving her free to make more false accusations against blameless members of the public.

Mr Blackwell, 36, hugged his loyal wife Tanya and wept as the Appeal Court quashed his conviction.

Mr Justice Tugendhat admitted, however, that similar tragic cases could follow because of the lies of the woman, Miss A.

In the 1970s, the Daily Mail campaigned for women in sex cases to be granted automatic anonymity, but now there are questions about whether the law has gone too far.

Warren Blackwell's nightmare began when Miss A, now 38, claimed she had been seized with a knife outside a village club early on New Year's Day 1999, taken to an alley and indecently assaulted.

Yet Mr Blackwell, from Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire, was found guilty and spent three years and four months behind bars.

Eventually the case was referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which assigned Detective Chief Inspector Steve Glover, to investigate. He discovered that the woman:
• Has made at least five other fake allegations of sexual and physical assault to police in three separate forces.
• Was married twice and made false allegations against both husbands - one of whom was a policeman.
• Once accused her own father of sexual assault, but police concluded she had made it up.
• Accused a boy of rape when she was a teenager, only for a doctor to discover she was still a virgin.
• The CCRC concluded that in the case of Mr Blackwell, she had "lied about the assault and was not attacked at all, her injuries being self-inflicted".

David Farrell QC, for the Crown, said: "This conviction is unsafe. What has come out of the woodwork paints a picture of a woman with immense personal problems with serious difficulties in distinguishing between truth and lies."

If this information had been known at the time of the trial, he added, "this case would not have made it off the ground".

Mr Blackwell said: "Clearly something has to be done about this woman. She needs to be stopped. The prosecution say she is psychiatrically disturbed, but insane people who murder are tried and if found guilty put away."

Mr Blackwell, who plans to sue police over his ordeal, will now have his name removed from the Sex Offender Register.

His accuser has a history of mental illness and self-harm - once inscribing the word 'HATE' on her body with scissors.

However, because she has changed her name at least eight times, and moved between addresses in at least three counties, it seems police never realised they were dealing with the same woman.

For Mr Blackwell, her accusations meant he missed more than three years of family life. His son Liam, ten, and stepdaughter Holly, 16, were three and nine when his ordeal began.

His 36-year-old wife said: "I never doubted him for a second. We were together six years before it happened, and ever since."

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F.A.C.T. (Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers)
PO Box 3074
Cardiff CF3 3WZ
Tel: 029 2077 7499
E-mail: info@factuk.org
Website: www.factuk.org
Campaigning organisation and support group which provides help and advice to falsely accused and wrongly convicted carers and teachers throughout the UK. The website contains a range of information, leaflets, books and links.

Guidance for education staff and volunteers in schools
Website: www.lg-employers.gov.uk/conditions/education/allegations
This website has guidance on: 1) staff facing an allegation of abuse; 2) preventing 'abuse of trust' for education staff; and 3) the conduct of education staff working with young people.

DIGGING THE DIRT: DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

The disclosure of confidential records such as those of doctors, teachers, counsellors, and therapists may be sought by the defence as a means of undermining the credibility of complainants in rape and sexual assault trials. The procedure is under section 2 of the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965, under which disclosure of the records of third parties may be sought.

This may be relevant in the Dysfunctional Family case where the mother is a psychiatric nurse and thought to be an associate of one or more of the expert witnesses.

As celebrity themed reality TV goes, it's a long way from making them eat bugs. One of the cornerstones of BBC2's new year schedule will aim to meticulously recreate a high-profile rape trial using top lawyers and following 12 celebrity jurors as they reach their verdict.

But the inclusion on the jury of the likes of former MP turned perjurer, Jeffrey Archer, and Stan Collymore, the former footballer involved in well-publicised domestic violence and "dogging" incidents, has already sparked concern about the motives of the programme-makers from rape charities and support groups.

The Verdict's diverse lineup also includes So Solid Crew rapper Megaman, real name Dwayne Vincent, who was recently acquitted of murder at the Old Bailey after three trials and 18 months on remand, as well as former soap actress Patsy Palmer, the chief executive of Ann Summers, Jacqueline Gold, and Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter, Sarah, was murdered by a convicted paedophile, and who has since campaigned for the so-called Sarah's Law.

They will be charged with determining if two fictional footballers gang-raped an imaginary 19-year-old young woman in a London hotel suite.

"It sounds quite sensational," said Cliona Saidlear, the policy coordinator at Rape Crisis Networks Ireland. "Rather than 12 ordinary people, they've turned to celebrities and instead of taking a standard rape trial, they've used a celebrity case. They've pitched it at such an extreme, sensational level you have to question their objectives. The celebrities are probably going into it with the best of intentions but why not 12 people from the street?" she said.

But the programme-makers insist it is a serious attempt to lift the lid on the usually unseen deliberations of the jury room. They said they were taken aback by the extent to which the celebrity jurors treated the concocted scenario as real.

Stephen Lambert, chief creative officer at Wife Swap and Faking It producer RDF, who came up with the idea, said there was a public interest defence. "Barristers and, I guess, the rest of us, really want to get an insight into how juries make up their mind in such cases. Wearing my public service hat, I'd say it's a great way of showing how a court and a trial work."

BBC2 controller, Roly Keating, also defended his motives. "It's an ambitious project that is attempting to bring the law and the jury system to life in a new way. It's an extremely complex, finely balanced case derived from case law but fictitious in its detail."

The Verdict will be screened over four nights in February on BBC2. After each programme, viewers will be encouraged to switch to BBC3 where they can watch footage of the jury debating the day's evidence over dinner at the five-star Conrad Hotel in Chelsea, where they stayed after being whisked from Kingston county court in Surrey in a fleet of black Lincoln limousines equipped with champagne chilling in buckets. Viewers will be invited to make their own minds up using background material, witness interviews and documentary evidence available on the BBC2 website.

The programme also features a number of celebrity lawyers, including retired judge Lord Dennison. Prosecuting counsel is Joanna Greenberg QC, while the two fictional footballers are represented by real-life QCs Jane Humphreys and George Carter-Stephenson.

Mr Carter-Stephenson, whose notable cases have included the first Damilola Taylor murder trial and the Millennium Dome diamond robbery, said he had been wary at first but was reassured by the lengths to which the programme makers went to make the programme realistic. "I was surprised by just how good the actors were. It was just like being in court, except the lights were a bit brighter," he said. "It gives the public a chance to see how barristers work and to show that we are not so removed from reality as they sometimes believe."

The other members of the jury are Jennifer Ellison, a dancer, singer and former Brookside actor; Michael Portillo, the former Tory leadership contender turned media commentator; Alex James, the bassist in Blur; Dominic McVeigh, a teenage millionaire who made his money from importing scooters from China, the actor Honor Blackman and TV presenter Chris Tarrant's estranged wife, Ingrid.

It is their role to cross-examine a group of actors who improvise their responses as the alleged rape victim, the two footballers, the alleged victim's girlfriend who sold the story to the tabloids, and others.

"We thought first of all about a sexual harassment case, and then a murder case, but then went with rape because it's so clearly two interpretations of reality. It's a hotly debated crime in the legal world," said Mr Lambert.

The case dramatises issues of notoriety, alcohol, race, money and the ethics of selling possibly concocted stories of sexual dalliances with celebrities to the tabloids. The case involves a young woman called Anna Crane from Epsom, who goes to see the musical Chicago with her best friend in London.

After the show they wind up in a hotel cocktail bar where the friend spots celebrity footballer Damien Scott and his friend, a less successful player called James Greer. They retire to Scott's suite where one of two things happens to Anna Crane: either she has consensual sex with Scott or she is gang-raped. Both defendants plead not guilty.

Crane decides not to go to the police. Instead, her best friend sells the story of her alleged rape to a Sunday newspaper for £30,000 and covertly tapes Anna describing the assaults. This tape was played in court to the celebrity jury who have to make up their minds as to whether it is a harrowing confession or a fake tape concocted by two money-grabbing girls.

Archer's appearance is likely to be the first of several in reality TV shows as he seeks to work his way back into the public eye following his four-year jail sentence in 2001 for perjury and perverting the course of justice. He has already agreed to take part in new ITV1 show Fortune, in which he will be filmed giving away his own money to members of the public, and is rumoured to be part of the cast list for the next series of Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother in January.

BBC Two Winter/Spring 2007

Stan Collymore, Ingrid Tarrant, So Solid Crew's Megaman, Michael Portillo and Sara Payne join the jury for BBC Two's The Verdict

A former England football player, one of Britain's most successful businesswomen, a mother who campaigned for the law to be changed following the murder of her daughter and a rapper who spent time in prison on a murder charge are amongst the line-up of high profile jurors taking part in BBC Two's ambitious television event, The Verdict.

The 12 jurors are sitting in judgement on a four day trial in a real courtroom, presided over by a real judge, with real barristers prosecuting and defending.

But the cameras will be there, observing for the first time the dynamics of a how a jury reaches it verdict.

The Verdict, which is being produced by RDF Television, part of the RDF Media Group, will be stripped across four nights on BBC Two, to be shown early next year.

A BBC Three switch-over programme will follow the jury back to their hotel to find out how they have reacted to each day's proceedings.

The case features the rape trial of an internationally famous footballer, Damien Scott, and his friend, James Greer.

Scott and Greer are fictitious characters, but in the weeks leading up to the case the actors playing them have experienced what is like to be arrested, interviewed under caution by real policemen and examined by real forensic experts.

The trial is totally unscripted so that when the witnesses appear in the witness box, they give evidence about experiences that to them, to the jury, and to viewers will seem all too real.

The judge is the highly respected and recently retired His Honour Neil Denison QC .

Jane Humphryes QC and George Carter-Stevenson QC are acting for the Defence and Joanna Greenberg QC is the Crown Prosecution Service barrister.

The barristers are free to prosecute and defend the case in exactly the same way as they would a real trial.

Roly Keating, Controller of BBC Two, says: "This is a hugely ambitious project which brings the law to life in a completely new way.

"It will be fascinating to follow the twists and turns of the case, see the dynamics and power struggles within the jury, learn about the jury system with its inherent flaws and strengths - and engage with the whole experience even more deeply on broadband."

Stephen Lambert, RDF Media Group's Chief Creative Officer, said: "We are delighted that such a wide range of high profile individuals have agreed to serve on our jury.

"It is fascinating to see how they interact and how their different backgrounds and assumptions influence their views on the case.

"A huge effort was taken by everyone involved in the production to ensure that the jury experience was as authentic as possible.

"We were amazed by how seriously our jury treated their task and how emotionally involving it became for all of them."

This series will be accompanied by an extensive broadband service that will offer audiences high volumes of extended material, background videos, witness interviews and documentary evidence to allow viewers to form their own judgement as the case progresses.

Brief biographical details for the jurors

Former Tory politician and best selling author – served two years in prison for perjury.

Actress best known for her role in The Avengers and as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.

Actress and performer who starred in Brookside and is currently appearing in Chicago in the West End.

Chief Executive of Ann Summers and Knickerbox – regularly voted one of Britain's most powerful and inspirational women.

Blur band member and Independent columnist, now lives on an organic farm with his wife and three young sons.

Founder member of chart-topping rap collective So Solid Crew – recently acquitted of murder after three trials and spending 18 months on remand in Belmarsh Prison.

21-year-old entrepreneur - imported micro-scooters to the UK and became the country's youngest self-made millionaire at the age of 14.

Mother who campaigned for Sarah's law following the murder of her daughter by a known paedophile.

Biographical details for the legal team

His Honour Neil Denison QC was considered one of Britain's most prominent judges. He was the Common Sergeant of London from 1993 until 2001 when he retired and was replaced by Judge Brian Barber QC. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1952 and became a bencher in 1993. He was a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1979 to 1985. Notable cases include the Salon killing, where a wife killed her husband's girlfriend in a beauty salon, a Muslim father who murdered his daughter in an honour killing and a man who smashed his wife's skull with an axe.

Jane Humphryes is a specialist in serious crime of all kinds. She is experienced in prosecuting and defending a wide range of criminal cases, although more recently nearly exclusively defending, including murder and attempted murder, money laundering, fraud, rape and indecent assault and police disciplinary proceedings.

George Carter-Stephenson is a specialist defence advocate with a varied and wide-ranging practice extending over all types of criminal cases and disciplinary proceedings. He is extremely experienced in dealing with highly involved and complex cases, including serious fraud. Notable cases have included the Damilola Taylor first murder trial, the Millennium Dome Robbery, the Sumurai Sword murder and representing the husband of Joyti de Laurey, the Goldman Sachs secretary found guilty of stealing £4.5m from her bosses.

Joanna Greenberg QC specialises in criminal law. She is now best known as a defender, although she continues to do some prosecuting. She has been head of chambers since 2003. Her defence practice has covered all types of crime, including murder, high value fraud cases, very substantial drugs cases and all sorts of sex cases involving serial offenders, witchcraft, child abuse. Listed as one of the "Leaders at the Bar" in Chambers UK client's guide to the UK legal profession, she is described as "an evasive witness's bad dream".

48 people have commented on this story so far. Tell the Mail on Sunday what you think using the links above.

I think that most right-thinking people would support a change to allow these people to be identified. It might even have some deterrent effect.

- Gordon Littlewood, Valenciennes, France

When you name the accused guilty or not you should also name the accuser. If his photo is published then so should hers be. Let's have things equal and fair all round.

- Mike, Wadebridge, UK.

This government does not have the time to waste on changing this law they are all too busy jostling for the top office job.

- Gordon Myatt, Swansea UK

Headteacher cleared of assault - Friday October 3, 2003

CONVICTION QUASHED OVER 'MADE UP' VAMPIRE CLAIM

SEX ATTACK LIAR NAMED BY PEER - 19th October 2006 by SAM GREENHILL

Man freed but serial rape accuser remains anonymous -12th September 2006

Add your comment | View all Comments (48)

DIGGING THE DIRT: DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

BBC Two Winter/Spring 2007

Brief biographical details for the jurors

Biographical details for the legal team

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