Policeman faces sack over racist outburst

Detective Constable Richard Taylor faces losing his job after being found guilty of racially abusing a bouncer outside an Aberdeen nightclub.

A police officer faces losing his job after being found guilty of racially abusing a bouncer outside an Aberdeen nightclub.

Detective Constable Richard Taylor, 30, was asked to leave Tiger Tiger after an alleged disturbance at the Aberdeen nightspot on last year.

But it is claimed Taylor shouted racist abuse at a doorman when he got outside.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that Taylor was asked to leave the bar because he was too drunk.

Bouncers were forced to restrain him on the ground after his outburst on June 15.

A bar worker who witnessed the incident said: "He started with the usual swearing and then turned it into a racist thing saying 'black man, you're a fat b*****d."

Whilst restraining him on the ground, head bouncer Schuwel Miah said Taylor said he was a policeman and “we would be in trouble”. He also threatened that Mr Miah and his colleague would lose their jobs.

Mr Miah said: "He was calling me a fat b*****d, a pig and said I was going to lose my job and at one point he called me a black b*****d."

In a statement Grampian Police’s Head of Professional Standards, Superintendent Iain McGrory said: "This officer has fallen far short of the standards we demand.

"Naturally we are disappointed that a member of our staff has been convicted of this crime.

"I will be submitting a report on the circumstances to the Deputy Chief Constable for his consideration in due course.” continues here

“Bouncers were forced to restrain him on the ground after his outburst”, is it me or does that sound somewhat dubious, isn’t, as I know very well, the job of bouncers to protect the premises, staff and those inside, of course, the operative word here is, “inside”. They are door staff and therefore whatever goes on outside is beyond their remit, although we all know that door staff are far from the angels portrayed in this case ,could it be that, yes Mr Taylor was drunk and yes he may very well have become untenable, however, once ejected he became enraged and the staff left their position and attacked him.

I can imagine that Mr Taylor may very well have used the words cited ,however, in an aggressive situation one is liable to pick up upon any distinguishing feature of ones opponent and use it against them, I dare say had Mr Miah had ginger hair Mr Taylor may very well have picked up on this or if Mr Miah had been over weight Mr Taylor may have, ah and there we have it Mr Taylor did pick up on Mr Miahs weight, so we see really rather quite easily that rather than a race issue it was a confrontation, wherein disparaging slurs are used.

In everyday life I have little time now for the police, believing them somewhat distant from the common people, yet I have to say the same for door staff, they to harass, bully and cajole members of the public, yet in this case we see that careers can be lost through what is nothing more than anger. Yet I do not see weight-watchers pressing a complaint, no overweight individual seeks revenge through the courts, race is used indiscriminately against whites and I’m afraid we have no right of reply.

Schools are 'employing bouncers'

Schools are employing bouncers to "crowd control" classes in teachers' absence, a union conference has heard.

A London teacher told the National Union of Teachers annual conference he knew of a school that had gone to an agency to recruit two bouncers.

One left after a month after falling out with staff but the other was still employed, he said - the school wanting someone "stern and loud".

The government said cover staff should only be used as a short-term solution.

The union wants all lessons to be taken by qualified teachers but says there are likely to be more cover supervisors taking lessons in future.

Talking to journalists, the teacher, Andrew Baisley declined to name the school involved. But he said the bouncers had been taken on as permanent members of staff.

"I think it's the idea that it's about crowd control and child minding, and if you are stern and loud that's what is necessary to do the job," he said.

The school was paying them £20,000 a year, about half as much as it would have to spend on supply teachers to cover lessons when their regular teachers were not there.

Interaction

The bouncers had not been trained, he claimed. They were supervising work prepared by qualified teachers.

Mr Baisley stressed he had no complaint about people from any walk of life retraining to be teachers. That was not the issue.

"If a member of staff is away you don't want just any teacher, you want someone from that subject who can interact with the children and advise them and so on."

He added: "You regularly see adverts which say, 'Would suit people with military or police experience'.

"I have absolutely no problem with that, in fact I know of teachers who have come from that background.

"I just think there's something questionable about thinking that that sort of skill is appropriate in a school."

'Firm but fair'

A recruitment agency, Aspire People, advertised vacancies for "Hard Core Cover Supervisors".

"You might be an ex-marine, prison officer, bouncer, policeman, fireman, sportsman, actor or you might be an overseas teacher looking to get some experience in the classroom.

"Which ever it is we need someone who thinks they can get involved in a school environment and control the kids in schools throughout the midlands."

Experience working with children was a requirement, along with "a good sense of humour, a firm but fair approach, a willingness to go that extra mile".

The role involved helping with every aspect of school including administrative work, "taking kids on trips or helping to cover lessons when the work is set".

Demands

The NUT conference noted that the use of cover supervisors in England and Wales had increased significantly since changes to teachers' working practices in 2003.

In many cases they were employed on a casual basis and on low wages, with little or no career progression, officials said.

"They are doing a teacher's job for a cleaner's wage," said West Sussex teacher Derek McMillan.

The conference resolved to work with other unions representing many cover supervisors to ensure they were:

• Appropriately qualified

• Trained in school policies

• On a proper contract with decent pay and career prospects

• Used for no more than three days' absence in secondary schools and one day in primaries

A spokesman for England's Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We're clear that cover supervision should only be used as a short-term solution, to provide continuity when the regular teacher is unavailable.

"Pupils should continue their learning through pre-prepared lessons and exercises supervised by support staff with appropriate skills and training."

Some people think having bouncers in schools would be a good idea, in light of widely reported discipline problems.

The writer and family rights campaigner Lynette Burrows has argued that in pubs and clubs these "large and implacable figures … keep order with a remarkable degree of success". continues here

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