A former head teacher and his previous colleagues have today been ordered to pay back a total of £1,395,839, excluding costs, for their part in a school bonuses scandal by the High Court.
Alan Davies, the former head teacher of Copland Community School in Wembley, was found to have benefitted from the “vast sums” he received in unlawful bonuses over several years before he was suspended in May 2009.
Davies, who had previously been knighted for services to education, now faces having to pay the whopping sum of £1,395,839 plus 75% of the Council’s assessed legal costs. He had previously taken home more than £400,000 in one year, three times the going rate for a head teacher. He was convicted of false accounting in 2013 and stripped of his knighthood in 2014.
In August earlier this year, the High Court found that his justifications for the excessive payments were “patently untrue” and “false”.
The payments to Davies and three associates were approved by former Chair of Governors Dr Indravadan Patel and former Vice Chair of Governors, Martin Day, who were both criticised by the Judge for “wholesale failures” and “reckless indifference”. Dr Patel and Mr Day now need to pay back £552,729 between them plus 65% of the Council’s assessed legal costs.
Cllr Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of Brent Council, said:
We are delighted with the verdict as it means the money, which had been swindled, is now going to be returned and can now be used for the benefit of local people.The scandal was revealed by the whistle blowing of teacher trade unionist Hank Roberts
Davies and his colleagues were arrogantly paying themselves ridiculously high and unjustified bonuses, including Davies pocketing a whopping £400,000 in one year - which is around three times the going rate for the job.
It has taken years of stamina and determination to win this victory but justice has finally been done.
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