Teacher wins case to destroy files

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A SCHOOL head teacher today won a High Court order requiring the destruction of social service files including allegations that he had indecently assaulted girl pupils. The headmaster from Cheshire, who can only be referred to as "Mr K", was acquitted in the early 1990s. But the files were retained for child protection purposes and the headmaster began a long legal battle with the backing of the National Association of Head Teachers . Today he was successful when Mr Justice Burton, sitting at the High Court in London, ruled that there was no justification for breaking a promise that the files - compiled after an investigation to see if his son was at risk - would be destroyed. The judge said Mr K's human rights had been breached and declared: "The sooner these files are destroyed the better." He said that, unless there was an appeal, they should be disposed of within 14 days. Lawyers for Halton borough council had argued that the Government had decided it was in "the public interest" that child care files should be retained for longer than in the past following the conviction of Ian Huntley for the murder of the Soham schoolgirls. The judge said: "Clearly we all know not only how important it is to protect children, and many lessons have been learned from such matters as the Huntley case."