Well would you believe it, I was halfway through reading my e-mails this morning when the following dropped onto the screen. A complaint from a gallant but obviously very young person who is a newly appointed governor of St Bede’s College, one of a galaxy of stars thrown onto the stage in recent months to help sweep away the chaos and despondency the school has sunk into.
Helen West is the scribe’s name and she seems to have got the bit between her teeth and is trying to make a name for herself like all young nag’s do and she seems to be telling me off. She has written to our hosting company asking peevishly for them to remove my blog from the internet.
From: Abuse Helpdesk
Sent: 12 February 2014 12:23
To: Steve
Cc: Abuse Helpdesk
Subject: FW: Paul Malpas Blog
Hi Steve,
We’ve received the following email via our abuse helpdesk from a contact at St Bede’s college in Manchester making claims regarding potentially libellous content on a site hosted by yourselves. Could you please investigate and respond to the sender?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
From: Helen West [mailto:hwest@stbedescollege.co.uk]
Sent: 10 February 2014 15:37
To: Abuse Helpdesk
Subject: re: Paul Malpas Blog
Good afternoon
I am parent governor at St Bede’s College in Manchester. It is an independent co-ed school in Whalley Range for children aged 3-18 years. The school is currently dealing with adverse publicity over pupil abuse which is alleged to taken place in the 1950′s/60′s (ie. before any of us were born).
A former pupil who is now retired has been blogging about this issue for a few years and demanding litigation / compensation for victims – the upshot of which is that a huge US law firm are planning to sue current governors over these issues (indeed you may have seen them on the news). The blog has been read by current pupils – some of whom have posted comments defending the school because it is a totally different place now.
The blog www.paulmalpas.com (which is hosted by Melbourne) has contained libellous comments for the past couple of years but in recent weeks has started to use far more offensive / racist language. However, yesterday the content became a lot more explicit – it describes in graphic detail the alleged rape of a 12 year old boy in the 1950′s which is of course horrific, but is not something which I want to read associated with the school as it is now. It is extremely upsetting and should definitely have an 18+ filter. We have a potential safeguarding / child protection issue because current pupils (aged 3-18) could easily read it. The blog is also easily found on Google (the man’s daughter runs a web optimisation company and so has ensured that is ranked highly in any search of the school name).
I am emailing to ask that you please stop hosting this site as soon as possible. I asked Darren at Redstar for some advise and he suggested that I contact you directly. Whilst I appreciate that it is not a permanent solution at least we can reduce the risk of pupils reading this particular post. We have informed both the Irish Police and GMP and they are both attempting to deal with this matter to support the school.
Best regards
Helen West
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St Bede’s College & Junior Division Alexandra Park Manchester M16 8HX |
College Junior Division
tel: 0161 226 3323 0161 226 7156
fax: 0161 226 3813 0161 227 0487
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Well I would just like to comment if I may Helen and I address these comments to the interested readers and not you dear girl.
Para 1. Note immediately she is introducing herself as a nymphet, having been born sometime after the 1960s.
Para 2. I have been blogging on this subject of pupil abuse at St Bede’s since 2010 but never that I know of, have demanded litigation/compensation for victims although I do know there are a couple of law suits on the subject pending.
Para 3. If I have ever posted libellous content I would like to know and if she knew her subject, she should have written to me and I would certainly consider removing it, but one woman’s libelous content is often just a bag of shite. I agree that to some my blog could be offensive, it is meant to be so to those implicated but it was never racist but in one case might have been politically incorrect but I am not one for politics.
As I described in my posting of 9th February 2014, my blog went into graphic detail to shake the reader from their complacency into reality and not let the described depravity be softened by pretty language. If an 18+ filter is needed for such reality it is up to the parents and college to do this on their computers. Our hosting company have no power in that matter at all.
Certainly my daughter, who does not run a web optimisation company has never interfered or took any part in my blog except to comment occasionally. It is ranking highly because many people are interested in the obvious deterioration in the school and the blog is widely read. My daughter in fact went to St Bede’s and had a great time there and received a very good education before going on to Oxford University. She often praises her teachers but at the same time recognises the obvious faults in the management system under John Byrne when she was there in the 1980s and 90s which have multiplied under the present management.
The potential safeguarding situation Helen talks of is something within her control, the bigger safeguarding issue has been pointed out to the school by the Independent Schools Inspectorate and they have said in their report how badly the management have performed on this score. It is that that should be concentrated on, not my blog.
Para 4. It is a lot more difficult to take a blog down than young Helen thinks and there are far worse things on the internet than my postings. She could start by trying to take down the easily accessible porn sites or perhaps she does not mind her little kids viewing those.
The threat of Garda and GMP is just what it is, a bag of shite. We know these boys in blue have become a bunch of illiterate thugs these days, eg Barton Moss but they have more to do than come round for a cup of tea at my house. Does she think she is a school ma’am castigating her pupils, the silly woman.
So Helen West, go south with your comments. If you see libel somewhere show me and I will be happy to consider removing it. Otherwise, shut up. Better still, concentrate on putting right the obvious short-comings at Bede’s before you go round trying to break my windows.
Now the board of it looks like 17 governors, two or three for every day of the week, have been sworn in and lawyers abound, so why do they not write to me in the first instance instead of this stupid woman. This e-mail from Miss West has been badly written, poorly composed and shockingly thought out which is all you can expect from modern day St Bede’s.