Paul Jeeves reports:
A campaign for an overhaul of the law to grant anonymity to teachers accused by pupils ahead of court cases has been launched by a lawyer who has joined forces with an international best-selling author.
The call for the so-called Bill’s Law has been named after a respected teacher, William Stuart, who was acquitted following a six-month ordeal which was sparked when a 15-year-old girl alleged he had assaulted her.
His solicitor, Nick Turner, has linked up with the best-selling author Graham Taylor – a family friend of the Stuarts in Scarborough and a former police officer and vicar – to call on the Government to change the law to help teachers avoid potentially damaging media exposure ahead of conviction.
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Why not doctors, too, then – or priests – or any profession that might be accused by children? The reputation of a teacher is no more important than the reputation of a pediatrician or a day care worker or a priest. And in this digital world, the potential for reputation harm based on charges that may ultimately result in acquittal is a significant concern for everyone – not just those working with children.
It strikes me that this is the type of law that should apply to everyone or no one.
Because the lawyer is not interested in what is right just to get himself at the fornt of the queue to represent any other poor begger facing these claims.
The press here was engineered by the defence team for this very purpose.
It stinks.