Falsely accused

ORDEAL

Ex-headteacher helps

others falsely accused

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IT'S the sort of accusation every teacher dreads. But how do you cope when your accusers are believed, and you are wrongly convicted as a result? Four years on, former East Lancashire headmaster Rory O'Brien breaks his silence on his ordeal and tells chief reporter DAVID HIGGERSON how memories of his time in prison drive him to help others...

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CONVICTION QUASHED: Rory O'Brien is now chairman of FACT -- Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers -- which supports those accused; and (below) when he was head of St Mary's Hall, the preparatory school of Stonyhurst College, Hurst Green

(FACT)

THE month between being convicted for indecently assaulting pupils and having his good name restored by Appeal Court judges still haunts Rory O'Brien.

To him, it was probably the lowest point of an ordeal which saw him falsely accused by ex-pupils at an East Lancashire private college and jailed after jurors believed his accusers, only to have the conviction quashed within weeks.

Many people would be desperate to put the whole ordeal behind them, and try to forget about it. But not Rory, who came to a different conclusion.

The 62-year-old said: "People will never know what prison is like until they have actually experienced it. You are not only locked away physically, but locked up mentally too.

"You have limited contact with the outside world, You'll snatch a conversation with a relative, or see someone every now and again, and then you'll sit and stew over what they have just said, turning an innocuous comment into a really big issue because you have nothing else to think about.

"Fortunately, my appeal was dealt with within six weeks, but that is only because I had a fantastic support network around me. I didn't know while I was in prison how long it would be before I was free.

"I would hate to think of being in prison, innocent, without that support. That's why I'm doing what I do now."

What he means by that is being involved with an organisation called Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers (FACT), which was just in its infancy when Rory's case hit the headlines.

He was convicted at Preston Crown Court in February 2000 and jailed for three years on five counts of indecent assault on three pupils at St Mary's Hall, the preparatory school for world-renowned Stonyhurst College, in Hurst Green. Some of the allegations were based on claims made in 1998 about alleged activities in the 1970s.

Just weeks after the sentence, Rory was celebrating after Court of Appeal judges quashed his convictions.

Lord Justice Rose said it had been wrong to link the 1970s allegations with those from the 1990s. Applications for a re-trial were rejected.

While it would have been the easiest thing in the world just to disappear and get on with a quiet life, Rory opted to fight against the growing tide of assault claims against teachers and carers.

He is now chairman of FACT, a national body which supports those accused. Rory said: "When I left prison, I was at Wymott in Leyland, I was invited to a meeting FACT was holding nearby and it became apparent just how common accusations are.

"And so often, they are false. I know of plenty of cases of people in prison for assaults that simply didn't happen. Many of those people don't have any support from people around them, because everyone believes the accuser.

"I was different in that sense. I lived near the college, and the whole community backed me and supported me throughout. I now know the real difference FACT could have made to those people inside for things they know they didn't do.

"And I think that number is increasing all the time, because the police seem to have swung from never believing children, to now always believing them, no matter what."

Figures from the teaching unions bear out his fear. The National Union of Teachers report 209 members seeking help after being accused of assaulting pupils in 2003, with another 136 already this year.

They say that almost 60 per cent of the accusations turn out to be false. The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers says that in 1991, 44 of its members were accused, compared to 187 last year. And in the same period, the number of convictions fell from 11 per cent to just two per cent.

"That's my experience," said Rory. "And I hear the same from other people all the time. I was lucky in that so many people supported me, but from the moment you are accused it is impossible to defend yourself in case you interfere with the inquiry. People take your silence to mean something else, and by the time you get to court, people have made their minds up."

For Rory, breaking ties with St Mary's Hall and Stonyhurst -- which he had attended as a child, as had his father, and which his children had also gone to -- was one of the worst things to come out of the accusations.

For Rory there was no going back to work. He took early retirement mid-way through the case and has since moved to Suffolk to live in his family home.

He said: "I had to take early retirement. It follows you around and people know about it because it becomes a talking point. That's wrong. It can wreck careers. Just the fear of it is putting people off the profession. One of FACT's aims is to get anonymity for teachers and carers accused of assaults. It is only fair, especially when so many turn out to be false."

The statement echoes that of Richard Paillou, a 30-year-old supply teacher at St Bede's High School, in Blackburn, cleared last month by a jury of assaulting a pupil 15 months ago. He has no plans to teach secondary pupils again, and said: "Teachers are prime targets."

THE month between being convicted for indecently assaulting pupils and having his good name restored by Appeal Court judges still haunts Rory O'Brien.

To him, it was probably the lowest point of an ordeal which saw him falsely accused by ex-pupils at an East Lancashire private college and jailed after jurors believed his accusers, only to have the conviction quashed within weeks.

Many people would be desperate to put the whole ordeal behind them, and try to forget about it. But not Rory, who came to a different conclusion.

The 62-year-old said: "People will never know what prison is like until they have actually experienced it. You are not only locked away physically, but locked up mentally too.

"You have limited contact with the outside world, You'll snatch a conversation with a relative, or see someone every now and again, and then you'll sit and stew over what they have just said, turning an innocuous comment into a really big issue because you have nothing else to think about.

"Fortunately, my appeal was dealt with within six weeks, but that is only because I had a fantastic support network around me. I didn't know while I was in prison how long it would be before I was free.

"I would hate to think of being in prison, innocent, without that support. That's why I'm doing what I do now."

What he means by that is being involved with an organisation called Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers (FACT), which was just in its infancy when Rory's case hit the headlines.

He was convicted at Preston Crown Court in February 2000 and jailed for three years on five counts of indecent assault on three pupils at St Mary's Hall, the preparatory school for world-renowned Stonyhurst College, in Hurst Green. Some of the allegations were based on claims made in 1998 about alleged activities in the 1970s.

Just weeks after the sentence, Rory was celebrating after Court of Appeal judges quashed his convictions.

Lord Justice Rose said it had been wrong to link the 1970s allegations with those from the 1990s. Applications for a re-trial were rejected.

While it would have been the easiest thing in the world just to disappear and get on with a quiet life, Rory opted to fight against the growing tide of assault claims against teachers and carers.

He is now chairman of FACT, a national body which supports those accused. Rory said: "When I left prison, I was at Wymott in Leyland, I was invited to a meeting FACT was holding nearby and it became apparent just how common accusations are.

"And so often, they are false. I know of plenty of cases of people in prison for assaults that simply didn't happen. Many of those people don't have any support from people around them, because everyone believes the accuser.

"I was different in that sense. I lived near the college, and the whole community backed me and supported me throughout. I now know the real difference FACT could have made to those people inside for things they know they didn't do.

"And I think that number is increasing all the time, because the police seem to have swung from never believing children, to now always believing them, no matter what."

Figures from the teaching unions bear out his fear. The National Union of Teachers report 209 members seeking help after being accused of assaulting pupils in 2003, with another 136 already this year.

They say that almost 60 per cent of the accusations turn out to be false. The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers says that in 1991, 44 of its members were accused, compared to 187 last year. And in the same period, the number of convictions fell from 11 per cent to just two per cent. "That's my experience," said Rory. "And I hear the same from other people all the time. I was lucky in that so many people supported me, but from the moment you are accused it is impossible to defend yourself in case you interfere with the inquiry. People take your silence to mean something else, and by the time you get to court, people have made their minds up."

For Rory, breaking ties with St Mary's Hall and Stonyhurst -- which he had attended as a child, as had his father, and which his children had also gone to -- was one of the worst things to come out of the accusations.

For Rory there was no going back to work. He took early retirement mid-way through the case and has since moved to Suffolk to live in his family home. He said: "I had to take early retirement. It follows you around and people know about it because it becomes a talking point. That's wrong. It can wreck careers. Just the fear of it is putting people off the profession. One of FACT's aims is to get anonymity for teachers and carers accused of assaults. It is only fair, especially when so many turn out to be false."

The statement echoes that of Richard Paillou, a 30-year-old supply teacher at St Bede's High School, in Blackburn, cleared last month by a jury of assaulting a pupil 15 months ago. He has no plans to teach secondary pupils again, and said: "Teachers are prime targets."