UK Column newsletter] ALERT: Attempted Intimidation Of UK Column By Oxford & Cherwel

[ktlight]

Please read this email this came in today:

"Dear all,

This is a request for some action.

On Friday we published an article on the website which was originally published in the latest newspaper, about allegations of some particularly nasty events at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College.

This morning, we received what can only be described as a highly intimidatory demand to take the article down from a lady called Ann Wilson, who described herself as head of the College's marketing department. She demanded to know the source of the article, which naturally we refused to give, and they demanded the article be taken down immediately.

The reaction of the College was very reminiscent of that of Eilish Angiolini and Levy & McRae when we began publishing articles on the Hollie Greig scandal - confrontational and bullying.

We have no intention of taking the article down. In fact, we need to spread it as widely as possible. There seems to be a massive cover up going on, and our initial article doesn't scratch the surface. The allegations behind the article, *from multiple sources*, need to be investigated properly by the police, which has so far failed to happen, just as with Hollie. Why?

We would like you, therefore, to get this story distributed as widely as possible. Twitter, Facebook, email ... whatever mechanism you have at your disposal, please use it. Please make this go viral. It's not possible to overestimate the importance of this case.

The link is:
http://www.ukcolumn.org/article/accu...valley-college

Many thanks,

The UK Column team."

[buckminster fuller]

let's repost it here for a start :

"Accusations of Student Abuse and Child Pornography Cover-up at Oxford & Cherwell Valley College

Alcohol consumed in classrooms, bullying, racism, health and safety breaches, pornographic videos, sexual and physical assaults, abuse of trust, and neglect are just some of the accusations against Oxford & Cherwell Valley College which have surfaced over the last eighteen months.
Article | December 2, 2011 - 11:34am

Nestled in David Cameron’s Conservative heartland, this leading college, states that it is the largest provider of further education training in Oxfordshire. According to the web page of college Principal and Chief Executive Sally Dicketts “We pride ourselves on the fact that we have something for everyone, we are all members of a vibrant and diverse community, and we are passionate about helping each individual to achieve their potential.”

Despite this welcoming accolade, former pupils and members of staff accuse Oxford & Cherwell Valley College management of collaborating in a calculated cover-up of a series of perverted and unpleasant activities in the college which started to manifest around 2007.

Allegations suggest that aside from sexual assaults on girls, students were encouraged to drink alcohol in classrooms and were shown pornographic material on college computers - in some cases on the private mobile phones of staff, including images involving children. Boys and girls also suffered bullying at the hands of staff, and those who attempted to warn senior managers of the horrendous activities, were reportedly warned off or pressurised to keep quiet.

Repeated complaints by staff and students did eventually force an investigation, but those present at the college at the time claim that the investigation led by Mr Ray Tregear, was biased so as to protect the college and cover-up the abuses.

Informers also claim that although Thames Valley Police did make some enquiries into abuse and pornography allegations these were low key, incompetent and involved officers working outside normal codes of conduct. Most surprising is that police did not impound computers for detailed forensic examination.

In February 2010 the Oxford Mail newspaper revealed that a Lecturer from the college had been suspended from his employment following complaints that he was showing pornography to pupils. Sources stated that he was later dismissed. It is alleged that this was most likely under a so called voluntary compromise agreement and gagging order. It is also understood that the college has spent some £233,000 on similar compromise agreements since January 2010.

The UK Column has recently learned that OCVC suddenly replaced some 200 computers in July 2010 after the accusations of abuses refused to die down. A local Oxford IT supplier apparently decommissioned the old machines including wiping hard drives.

Oxford and Cherwell Valley College Head Sally Dicketts and Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Sara Thornton are both connected with the Women’s Leadership Network and political charity Common Purpose."

[ktlight]

This came in the email today:

"-------- HUGE THANK YOU FROM US
----------------------------------------------

Dear all,

We'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone who responded to yesterday's alert regarding Oxford and Cherwell Valley College. Your response was perfect, and leaves us in the position that any attempt to use an injunction to shut the story down is no longer possible.

As I said yesterday, we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what has been going on at OCVC. We have more articles on this coming. Watch this space.

Thanks again from everyone at the UK Column.