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SACKED: Linda Walker
Gun teacher sacked
17/ 5/2005
GUN-CASE teacher Linda Walker has lost her job.
After a four-hour disciplinary hearing it was decided her contract at New Park High School, in Eccles, should end.
Mrs Walker, above, was freed on appeal earlier this month after spending 36 days in prison for firing an air pistol near youths she claimed were harassing her family.
Last night, head teacher Almut Bever-Warren and Salford education authority met to decide on Mrs Walker's future.
After the hearing, Salford education spokesman Coun Keith Mann said: "It would not be right and would give the wrong message should teachers with such convictions be permitted to carry on in these circumstances."
Mrs Walker would not comment after she left the hearing but her union representative said she intended to appeal.
Coun Mann said: ``Mrs Walker has been dismissed from her post as a teacher. The issue was and is - could Mrs Walker continue in her post as a special needs teacher in the light of her conviction for a serious firearms offence?
"Clearly the school and the council have to have, as their first consideration, the safety of children in their care.
"It would not be right and would give the wrong message should teachers with such convictions be permitted to carry on in these circumstances, particularly in the light of incidents in recent years which have necessitated increased security in schools.
Application
"I have no doubt that Mrs Walker felt under considerable pressure at the time of her offence and her reaction is understandable but not acceptable in a country which prides itself on the rule of law and its consistent application.''
Mrs Walker's union representative Cliff Anderson, from the NASUWT, said:
"With the support of the NASUWT she intends to appeal.
"In the interests of ensuring the appeal is not prejudiced, Mrs Walker and the NASUWT will be making no further comment." Mrs Walker now faces an investigation by the Department of Education and Skills which will decide whether her conviction classes her as a potential danger to children.
Even if they take no action, the case will be referred to the General Teaching Council which will decide whether the convictions breach their code of conduct.
The 48-year-old teacher was arrested after an incident outside her home in Urmston in August last year.
She fired a gas-powered pistol at the ground near the foot of Robert McKiernan. The Walker family claim McKiernan and other youths were involved in a long-running campaign against them, a claim which he denies.
The Court of Appeal quashed the mother-of-three's three-month jail sentence and replaced it with a 12-month suspended term.
But she was refused permission to challenge her convictions for affray and possessing a firearm with intent to cause violence.
Should Linda Walker have been sacked? Have your say.
Most recent 2 of 23 user comments
She should be diciplined, perhaps a fine, but she should not loose her job. She does not pose a danger in the classroom and I'm sure she will never do this again.
18/05/2005 at 18:37
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I must admit that the British people are far more tolerant of bureaucratic abuse than I would have thought, but even you must have a breaking point. The day you finally reach it will be a good day for British politicians to be somewhere else.
18/05/2005 at 19:56
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