Madden & Finucane
Ranked
Number 1
by Chambers,
the clients guide
to the legal profession
Chambers and Partners have been publishing their
world-famous guides to the legal profession since 1990. The key to the success
of their legal directories and the validity of their awards is the in-depth,
unbiased research conducted by their team of highly qualified and experienced
researchers. View more
Madden & Finucane
present
the Madden & Finucane
and Pat Finucane
Aisling Awards
The Aisling Bursaries, launched in March 2000, are
an educational initiative between Belfast Media Group and West Belfast
Partnership. The Aisling Bursaries are designed to help students defray their
education and training costs.
View
more
|
|
Family ‘devastated’ by body find
12 October 2000 --
A FORMER Co Down primary school vice-principal was yesterday ordered to pay
damages to a pupil he assaulted when the boy was nine. Bernard McCreanor and the
Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) were instructed to pay £1,500 in
compensation to Felim Crane plus legal costs. The ruling in Downpatrick crown
court ended a three-and-a-half-year fight by the boy’s family. “It was never
about the money, it was the principle,” Felim’s mother, Roisin Perry, said. Her
husband, Edward Crane, added: “Felim didn’t want to go to school at the time. He
was petrified.” The Downpatrick family lodged a civil claim for personal
injuries, loss and damage arising from assault and battery to Felim at St
Patrick’s Boys’ Primary School in the town. Both Mr McCreanor, from Downpatrick,
and the CCMS had admitted liability to the incident, when Felim suffered a blow
to the head on January 27 1997. Felim, now aged 12, had been seeking £3,000, but
after consultation with legal representatives yesterday, Judge Isobel Brownlee
decided against this amount. It is understood a psychologist’s report was
carried out after the assault but that it found no evidence of prolonged mental
illness. However, a legal representative said the “aggravated circumstances” of
the “assault and victimisation” of a pupil by a teacher led the judge to
increase damages from £1,000 to £1,500. Mr McCreanor, who is thought to be in
his late fifties, was not in court yesterday to hear the ruling. It is
understood he retired from teaching after the incident. Last night the CCMS was
unable to comment fully on the case, but confirmed the matter had been
investigated. It is believed the case has never been considered for criminal
prosecution. An RUC spokesman said: “It’s a civil matter on which we cannot
comment.” A solicitor from Madden and Finucane, who represented the family,
said: “Our client and his family feel vindicated by this result. Young Felim can
now get on with his life and put this behind him.” Child protection guidelines
revised in 1998 state that physical contact with pupils is permitted only in the
context of self-defence and restraint – and the minimum force necessary should
be used. NASUWT regional official Tom McKee, whose union had no involvement in
yesterday’s case, claimed the guidelines left teachers generally in a difficult
position. “If you feel threatened you have to make an instantaneous decision
about what the minimum degree of force is – as a court of law would deem long
afterwards,” he said. “If teachers don’t restrain pupils they can be open to
allegations of negligence, and if they do they may be open to allegations of
assault.”
|
|
more..
|
|
|