Arnewood School secretary sobs in court as conviction for 'slapping pupil' overturned

A FORMER school secretary broke down and sobbed in court after winning her appeal against a conviction for assaulting a pupil.

It took a judge and two magistrates at Southampton Crown Court less than five minutes to clear Jane Farmer, who worked at Arnewood School.

The three-man panel headed by Judge Christopher Parker QC ruled on Monday that “inconsistencies” in the evidence rendered the guilty verdict unsafe.

A visibly stunned Farmer hugged her two sons and wept in court. She opted not to make any comment, but one of her sons told the A&T the family had gone through “a lot of grief”, adding: “We’re just glad it’s all over.”

Earlier this year, Mrs Farmer (56), of Brook Avenue, New Milton, had denied slapping a 15-year-old pupil on the shoulder on 22nd January, but was convicted following a trial.

It was said Mrs Farmer had lashed out after asking him to move classrooms to study. Two other members of staff, Alison Collier and Alison Zebedee, supported the allegation, the former saying she witnessed the slap directly and the latter claiming to have heard it.

But while Mrs Farmer admitted there had been contact between her and the boy, she maintained she had put her hand out to steady the youngster because he was in danger of falling over.

When the appeal went before the crown court, it was agreed by all parties Mrs Collier asked the boy to move because he was talking to other pupils and being “disruptive” and Mrs Farmer intervened to help.

It was not unusual for her to lend a hand, the court heard, as her office was close to the classroom concerned and she often interacted with pupils and was “popular” with them, having worked at the school for more than 12 years.

In evidence, the boy said Mrs Farmer shouted at him to “get into my office” and he may have trod “accidentally” on her foot as he transitioned from one room to another.

After he moved into the second room she hit him with an open palm on his right shoulder, he said, adding: “I just went into shock when she did it.”

His account was backed up by Mrs Collier, who insisted she saw Mrs Farmer “flick” her hand out at the boy and heard a remote “slapping sound”.

“It was one of those unfortunate things. I wish I had never seen it,” Mrs Collier added.

Mrs Zebedee confirmed she did not witness the slap but heard a “skin on skin” contact.

In her defence, Mrs Farmer said the boy was talking to his friends, walking backwards and not facing her when she was dealing with him and she was worried he was about to trip and fall into a chair beside a bookcase.

“I put my hand onto his right arm to stop him from [falling over] because he was still moving backwards,” she said. “I made contact with him to stop him injuring himself.”

The defence case featured a supportive statement by the school’s matron, who said the boy reported to her after the incident but she did not see any red marks on his skin and there was “no medical intervention” required.

Summing up Mrs Farmer’s appeal, defence barrister Edward Warren pointed out the prosecution witnesses gave slightly different accounts of the layout of the rooms involved, where exactly the incident happened and the level of noise made during the contact between Mrs Farmer and the boy.

All of that undermined the prosecution case, he said, adding: “The court has to consider whose account in the case is the most realistic. A boy who had been told to leave the room because of his disruptive behaviour or a member of staff with years of blameless service behind her.

“It was natural for her to react in the way she did,” the barrister went on. “It was to stop him and steady him.”

Judge Parker and the magistrates retired to consider their ruling at 12.54pm and were back in court by 12.58pm.

Some of the evidence put forward by the prosecution was “wholly unconvincing”, Judge Parker said, highlighting the matron’s evidence – indicating the slap was not hard enough to have caused any marks on the pupil’s skin – undermined the three prosecution witness accounts.

Judge Parker added: “And we took into account, as we properly should, the character and unblemished record of Jane Farmer.”

After the hearing a spokesman for Arnewood said: “At the time of the incident The Arnewood School conducted an internal disciplinary hearing, which resulted in a written warning and Mrs Farmer being able to return to work.

“When criminal proceedings were brought forward Mrs Farmer was suspended and following her conviction she resigned her position. As she is no longer an employee of the school it would be inappropriate to comment any further.”

As reported in the A&T the boy’s father was critical of the school after the original trial. He said the family had suffered a “horrendous” ordeal and it had been “cruel” to put his son through the process of a trial.