School protest over BNP teacher's suspension

Activists protested today at a school which suspended a teacher who is an active member of the BNP.

Supporters claimed Mark Walker was the victim of a witch-hunt because of his political views.

But Sunnydale Community College in Shildon, Co Durham, insisted his suspension in March was not politically motivated.

As an internal investigation into his conduct as a computing teacher was on-going, the school said it could not elaborate on why he was facing disciplinary action.

When the suspension was originally imposed, it was alleged he misused school equipment.

It was reported that Mr Walker, a former RAF weapons technician, looked at BNP and commercial websites during work hours.

He stood in the Spennymoor ward of Sedgefield for the BNP in the May local council elections and polled 513 votes.

The demonstration on the first day of the new school year was organised by the group Civil Liberty.

Its director, Kevin Scott, was regional organiser for the BNP in the North East until last summer.

He said around 100 people joined the protest through the day.

“At the height of the demo there were 50 people there – parents, pupils and former pupils which shows the extent of feeling over this issue,” Mr Scott said.

“The principle here is whether someone, in our opinion, should be forced out of their job because of their activities within the BNP.

“There should not be a witch-hunt in schools because of people’s political views.”

Mr Scott said if the teacher had looked at BNP websites at work, he should not be disciplined.

“If it is against school rules to look at the BNP website, it should be filtered out to stop people.”

But head teacher Sue Byrne said the suspension was not politically motivated and added that Mr Walker’s supporters’ claims were “false”.

She said: “We are happy to state categorically that Mr Walker has not been suspended because of any political affiliations he may hold.

“Any suggestion that this is the case is wholly false.

“Beyond that we cannot comment because of our respect for Mr Walker’s rights to confidentiality with regard to the terms of his employment.”