Lancashire toddler wins appeal against expulsion for attacking teachers

by Adam Faulkner. Published Fri 20 Aug 2010 11:12, Last updated: 2010-08-23

The mother of a boy - branded a violent menace and expelled from school at the age of four - has scored a legal victory to clear his name.

Little McKenzie Dunkley, now aged 5, was kicked out of a Lancashire primary school for allegedly attacking two teachers in November last year.

His mother Shelley Dunkley, 27, was furious when school governors refused to overturn the decision to expel her son and took the case to appeal.

McKenzie was one of the youngest children ever to be expelled from a British school after despairing teachers accused him of running riot and kicking them.

He lasted only a matter of weeks at Sacred Heart Primary School, being sent home from school several times before he was expelled.

Now Shelley is celebrating after an Independent Appeals Panel decided to remove the expulsion from McKenzie's school record.

A spokeswoman for Lancashire County Council confirmed that KcKenzie's expulsion had been quashed.

Great-grandad Hewitt Tayburn, 68, has backed Shelley's battle and condemned the way McKenzie was treated by the school.

Mr Tayburn said: "The expulsion has been overturned the decision and justice has been served.

"The school could not back-up their supposed allegations about McKenzie with proper records.

"They had him down as being suspended on days when he was actually in school."

The boy's mother declined to comment but Mr Tayburn claimed that McKenzie is a star pupil at his new school, Golden Hill Primary in Leyland.

Added Mr Tayburn: "He has proved himself to be an exemplary pupil. His new headteacher has said there is absolutely nothing wrong with him.

"I can't believe how he has been treated at his old school. He was under scrutiny from day one.

"They had him down on paper as the youngest thug in the land but this couldn't be further from the case.

"By no stretch of the imagination is he a violent kid, he's a little lad and knows the difference between right and wrong."

Carol Seagraves, headteacher of Sacred Heart RC Primary School, said: "We do not comment on individual disciplinary cases within the school.

"All parents have a right to appeal against a permanent exclusion and that appeal is heard before a panel which is completely independent of the school.

"Both the school and the parents can submit written and verbal evidence to the panel and then its members make a decision as to whether the exclusion was appropriate, based on what they have heard."





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