Serving life:
A court drawing of Dwayne Best |
|
A
teacher who was brutally assaulted by a 15-year-old
pupil accused the school where the attack took
place of ‘putting her in the way of a rapist’.
The 32-year-old, who cannot be identified, said
Westminster City School should have warned her
that it was unsafe for her to be in her classroom
alone after lessons. The woman was attacked
by powerfully-built Dwayne Best as she marked
books after school – within a week of starting
her job in September, 2004. Best is serving
a life sentence after being convicted at the
Old Bailey. Miss X sued the governing body of
the school over her ‘truly horrifying’
ordeal. She has reached a secret settlement
in the damages action. Her counsel, Neil Block
QC, told Mr Justice Foskett at London’s
High Court that her allegations of negligence
against the school were on the basis that there
had been a previous less serious sexual assault
on a cleaner. Best also had the ‘most appalling’
documented history in and out of school, displaying
a belligerent and aggressive attitude. Speaking
after the case, Miss X said she had decided
to bring a civil case because she thought the
school should be held to account for their failings.
‘They really failed.
They let me down and I do hold them responsible
for putting me in the way of a rapist.’
She said that the school had a duty of care
to its employees under health and safety law
which had not been followed. The school should
have carried out a risk assessment after the
cleaner had been attacked, Miss X said.
‘Nobody warned me.
On a basic level that’s what it comes down
to, if they had warned me, I wouldn’t have
been there in the classroom.’ |
bravenet.com
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