Teacher arrested for attempted murder

[Bottomofthebarrel]

This week a teacher at my DD’s secondary school was arrested for attempted murder. He stabbed a woman in the head and neck in broad daylight, and I believe he was only unsuccessful in killing her because other people intervened. She is in a critical condition in hospital, so he could be looking at a murder charge. This has all been in the news, including the BBC.

This man was teaching my own child until very recently. She was given an after school detention by him for being very slightly late to his lesson, and the detention was just him and her sat in a room. That sends shivers down my spine now. I can’t get the whole thing out of my head.

This must be so disturbing for all the kids at the school. I feel that the school are potentially going to struggle more with behaviour control from now on - this man was employed as one of their role models so I can’t help but feel they’ve lost the moral high ground. Not to mention the effect on those who are in their exam years and are now minus a subject teacher.

How the fuck does someone like that become a teacher? I must say in the last 9 years since my DC started secondary, I’ve come across a few - all of them male - teachers who have got my back up and seem to be definite ‘power tripping know it all’ types, and not particularly bright to boot. There’s another male teacher in another local school who was in the news, having to pay £200,000 damages to his neighbour after a childish bullying campaign which went on for years.

Is this the best we can do? I get teaching isn’t the most attractive profession, but it actually terrifies me that these people are supposed to be guiding and leading our children, sometimes on a one to one basis. My worry is that with the current shortage of teachers, and desperation to fill vacancies, the standards are going to sink even lower.

This isn’t a general teacher bashing thread, there are many truly wonderful ones out there, and I know it’s an incredibly difficult job. Just feeling very shaken by what has happened this week. My DD really didn’t like this man and I assumed it was her being a stroppy teen, now I feel awful for not taking her seriously.

They do not get that control of weaker smaller people in school as the children are more in control than the teachers. Hence why many are conditioned to be disrespectful to the teachers and not listen to them. Some are respectful and listen but in the main children are taught that their voice is more important than all others in the room and must be heard and that what they want, goes. When teachers challenge that they then get the attitude, threats and sometimes abuse. That is how it goes for the main part!

Well there are many smart suited , big, young, testosterone filled bearded tw...to in teaching now because teaching has become very ageist.if the daughter in this situation then becomes lippy you don't just accept it or sidecwith her, you explain that humans do bad things whatever their job
Does she believe in Harry Potter world? Do your job as a patent ffs.

That’s not really how school communities work. I’ve been teaching fir 30 years and in my experience, when something awful happens, staff and students rise to the challenge and behave very well. While there is a recruitment and retention crisis this is just an unconnected thing and the fact that he’s a teacher is irrelevant. He could have been a doctor or a dentist or a solicitor.

I think it's a myth that teen know it all thing.many teens never had it

I get where you're coming from but it is concerning that you have let this affect how you are viewing male teachers, and also why you hold such high respect for them?

Not that they shouldn't be respected but its not a surprise that of all the people employed as teachers there will be some who do something shocking.

Teachers are human and many people do stupid senseless things in their free time (referring to them doing drugs, bullying neighbours, etc). Teachers also have mental health issues.

This is an extreme event where the roles could easily be reversed- a woman stabbing a man.

Most teachers will not be on a power trip and are trustworthy.

Unfortunately there are some disturbed people in this world that work in all sorts of jobs that are teaching, healthcare, social care. People you pass at the shop, your neighbour, etc.

It's definitely a shock as it's so close to home but try not tar all male teachers as a danger.

Ditto Couzens but you’ll never hear that POV here.

wronguns in every walk of life OP.

Children are always going to be more at risk from adults than vice versa.

We currently have police officers in prison for rape and murder, shop keepers in prison for theft. A person's career has no impact on whether they may commit a crime! If it did it would make catching criminals far easier. I'm sure the remaining staff will be highly impacted and questioning everything they thought they knew about him. You need to support your child and nothing more. The school will sort out support for any that need it, including staff.

On the other hand maybe you'd be a bit more wary of being lippy if you thought teachers could lose it and murder you? The problem with some teenagers seems to be they think they are untouchable, maybe it will give them a reality check.

When I was at school, 60s mainly, we were a bit frightened of teachers, I didn't think they'd kill us but hit us with a cane? Yes.

Not sure that's true. Some of the sixth form boys at my local school are bigger than most of the female staff and some of the male. As teenagers with their brains not fully grown and hormones going crazy I think the big teenagers probably are a risk.

I've reported this thread. It is a contempt of court to publish anything to the public which creates a substantial risk that the course of justice in the proceedings in question will be seriously impeded or prejudiced, even if there is no intent to cause such prejudice. Individual posters on this thread may well have committed an offence.

Haven’t read the full thread, but there are over half a million teachers in the U.K.
There are also violent and criminal men in all walks of life.

YABU in inferring that the standards of teachers have fallen, based on this experience.

Does Lucy Letby represent all nurses? Does Harold Shipman represent all doctors?

I think this is a very valid point.

No one has called for a change to the DBS scheme or vetting in those professions. It's accepted that, however awful those people's crimes were, they represented themselves and not their profession. Why would teaching be any different?

As for the DBS vetting and any of the other schemes in place (the last time I was employed as a teacher, I had to sign declarations to the effect that I wasn't living with anyone who had sexual convictions against children and a 99 List declaration).

It's widely recognised that the DBS is there to protect businesses/schools/charities etc in the event that someone goes on to commit a crime in the future - we couldn't have known, they haven't been convicted of anything before. As long as safer recruitment processes have been followed, the business/school/charity can prove they'd done their bit and are safe. It's not a guarantee someone won't go on to commit a crime in the future.

It makes the news when a teacher, doctor or police officer is arrested and parents are worried because their little angel may have been taught by that teacher in the past and why weren't checks done.
It is more likely that a child in the school will stab someone - particularly in parts of major cities. We can't do checks that a young person is in a gang or involved in drug dealing but are bigger risks to the community.

It's not a guarantee someone won't go on to commit a crime in the future

Or haven’t been caught.

From my experience I'd say teachers today are far more professional than they've ever been. Certainly more than when I was at school in the 70s.

The difference with Couzens was that his previous criminal activity was reported and ignored. His colleagues knew how problematic he was and joked about.

"We couldn't possibly have foreseen this" is simply untrue in Couzens' case. Hence the suspicion and distrust of the system that allowed him to continue his criminality.

I find someone who's committed a domestic murder/attempted murder a lot less of a concern then the amount of paedophiles that work in schools up and down the country.

If this crime happened on Monday then it's a bit odd to be posting this on Saturday worried about how the fall-out will impact behaviour, surely that will have already been observed, or not, this week?

’Honestly, I get being shocked. But you are being way over the top and making this about you and how you feel.’

True. This whole AIBU feels a bit contrived and to make it about something it isn’t.

Teachers,like all professions draw from society ,human beings have their flaws which include rage,poor impulse control and violence. Unfortunately, this teacher has been involved in a violent act causes as yet unknown. Fortunately, such behaviours are the minority and the majority of teachers are hard-working, diligent, conscientious professionals.

I’m in health and there have been murderous,violent & unsavoury practitioners ranging from doctors to nurses to paramedics and AHP that itself does not directly mean that I think my colleagues may be murderers , violent or have unsavoury behaviours. However, I acknowledge that such acts do cause patients and the public to feel understandably feel unsettled.

Regards the pupils, I imagine it will be a bit of noteworthy conversation it is, of course an unusual event for your teacher to be involved in such a violent act. I do not think this will result in an anarchy or loss of structure in the school because that one individual has been engaged in a criminal act

I can't believe I've come onto Mumsnet on all places to find grown women being competitive cool girls about a teacher who's nearly murdered a woman.

I also can't believe it.

Literally. Can you give examples please?

I haven't done any of that, thanks.

You are the one that has literally, out of your own mouth, minimised attempted murder by saying the words of some people on this thread are potentially worse than stabbing someone in the neck.

I also don't think you can know that all the posters doing what you claim are teachers. A quick check back suggests few people have stated their profession.

When my son was at secondary school one of his teacher was arrested and charged with historic child abuse (someone came forward as an adult and said he abused two girls twenty odd years earlier ). He was charged and served a prison sentence- my son and his classmates were pretty shocked as he was a popular teacher with the kids - my son liked him and said he was a nice kind teacher so you just never know really.