Vicar steps down for cheek kiss

Aardvark · 14-07-2006, 12:04 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/5176802.stm

We're all doomed.

I've been working abroad a lot this year. Half of Europe kiss each other as a form of greeting. In my travels I have had both Arab and Russian policemen kiss me on the cheek. When I left Palestine one or 2 of the guys kissed me on the lips (in a non-sexual way you understand :roll: ). We are in danger of becoming the saddest nation in Europe, if not the world, when a congratulatory kiss on the cheek in public becomes the cause of a complete waste of police time and wrecks the career of someone. We will become a cultural backwater devoid of humanity and obsessed with being PC to the exclusion of everything else.

John Page · 14-07-2006, 08:44 AM

Just to be clear, he doesn't seem to have lost his job. He has, though, stepped down as a school governor.

It seems to be the mother who complained. I don't think we have enough detail to make a firm judgement on this incident, but I take your general point.

mkpdavies · 14-07-2006, 09:57 AM

Yes more detail requried.

If he was forced out, then this is sick. If he just got sick of being questioned, then that's his personal choice.The woman whop complained is pathetic.

John Page · 14-07-2006, 10:47 AM

I'm not awfully interested in this, but more background in The Telegraph -

Quote:

A vicar has had to stand down as a school governor after innocently kissing a primary school pupil on the cheek to congratulate her - only to find himself accused of common assault.

The Rev Alan Barrett, the vicar of St Editha's church in Tamworth, Staffs, and a father of three, kissed the 10-year-old girl in front of fellow pupils and a maths teacher when he presented her with a certificate at the end of the class.

The girl's mother complained but investigations by the police, social services and the Church all cleared Mr Barrett of doing anything wrong.

However, he said the subsequent furore left him with little choice but to resign as chairman of the governors on the advice of the Archdeacon of Lichfield. He had been due to step down later this year.

Yesterday Gavin Drake, a spokesman for the diocese of Lichfield said that after an investigation conducted by the archdeacon, the Ven Chris Liley, formal disciplinary proceedings were not justified, but he did deem Mr Barrett's behaviour "inappropriate" and sought assurances from him that he would not do it again.

He said the finding did not mean that Mr Barrett was guilty or negligent but it was "recognition that, in today's climate, previously acceptable innocent behaviour is now subject to misunderstanding and suspicion".

He added: "As the complaint and subsequent police investigation demonstrates, the simple act of a kiss on the cheek - a common greeting throughout the world - has potentially damaging consequences."

The incident happened at William McGregor Primary School, in Glascote, Tamworth, on May 5.

After the girl's mother complained, police investigated the incident on suspicion of common assault. Social services also became involved, but it was later agreed that no formal action should be taken.

Mr Barrett said: "I had visited the school to help some pupils with their work and, at the end of the lesson, I congratulated one girl who had been struggling.

"I was stunned to hear that I was then subject to a police and social services investigation examining my character, conduct and ministry.

"I was relieved when they found that there was no case to answer and that I could continue with my life."

He added: "I agreed that one cannot be too careful these days and that even giving a child a kiss of congratulations is inappropriate in this day and age."

Mr Barrett, who has been vicar of St Editha's for nine years, said that relations between himself and the school's head teacher had been "under severe strain for some time and this incident has not helped".

He said the archdeacon had advised him to resign.

Mr Drake said that this was the first and only complaint they had received about Mr Barrett.

He said that the Bishop of Lichfield had written to the girl's mother setting out the steps the diocese had taken and the conclusion of the investigation.

Last night the girl's mother said that more action should have been taken against Mr Barrett.

"I am so disappointed with the way it has been handled and I would like him to be removed from his position," she said.

She has complained to the school's board of governors, Staffordshire education authority, the police and Brian Jenkins, the Labour MP for Tamworth. No one at the William McGregor school wished to comment.

Phillip Noyes, director of public policy at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said that such physical contact in a school was "inappropriate".

"Everyone should be aware of changing attitudes towards physical contact with children. Children can be left embarrassed and or upset by such contact, even if innocently intended."

jim h · 14-07-2006, 11:17 AM

Sadly because of the furore about this sort of thing and the dangers of being accused of inappropriate behaviour I decided some 5 years ago it was no longer sensible or wise to be a good Samaritan. If you decide to help a woman or child you stand a significant risk of having a knock on the door at 6 a.m from the police.
It is no wonder society is dead and people are concerned only about themselves and immediate family.

Aardvark · 14-07-2006, 11:33 AM

In the good old days I was asked to cover for Santa at a playgroup that my daughter had previously attended. Every child, boy or girl, sat on my knee while I asked them, in full view and hearing of their mothers, what they wanted for Xmas. I may have patted heads and backs and lifted the kids up and down. Nobody objected and many of the mothers thanked me. It was a lovely experience looking into innocent and trusting eyes, but I never thought anything more until this recent obsession with paedophiles.

I wouldn't dare cover for Santa ever again. The mother in this case sounds particularly strange and vindictive. I think her child is more at risk from having her as a parent than she would be getting the odd peck from a tactile vicar. The child is going to be gobsmacked if she travels abroad. In the last year I have, because of my international work, been kissed by people, all women, of German, Dutch, French, Italian, Lithuanian, Macedonian and Belarussian origin to name a few. I've hugged one or two. I have shaken hands with people of another 20 nationalities. I have been kissed by a few foreign blokes. Humans are supposed to touch other.

colin smith · 14-07-2006, 04:27 PM

Hi everybody,
I agree with jim and Aardvark. It is so very sad that innocent behaviour of yesteryear is now a criminal offence. The mother of the child involved does indeed seem a very vindictive person, and is probably a serious threat to the child.
I would NEVER help a female in trouble, and have packed up being a First Aider for fear of litigation.

Bluemerle · 14-07-2006, 05:08 PM

The mother has a real problem. I feel sorry for the little girl, fancy having a vindictive PC person for a mother. Common assault, what nonsense :shock:

This woman definately needs the help of a psychiatrist.

C_steam · 14-07-2006, 08:24 PM

Quote:

and have packed up being a First Aider for fear of litigation.

good point Colin - and I know there are many others like you who have done the same thing.

realifezombie · 18-07-2006, 12:53 PM

I think the woman should be charged with wasting police and social services time and pay compensation to the vicar who will now be stigmatised for the rest of his life.

The church authorities should be up before a tribunal for requesting that the vicar resign, as too should the board of governors of the school. Staffordshire education authority should also compensate Mr Barrett.

Phillip Noyes of the NSPCC should grow up. He is the type of person who will advocate children growing up without any physical contact even with their parents.

That poor child will grow up now with the stigma that a vicar “molested” her. That is the conditioning her mother will instil in her, and it will ruin her life forever.

14-07-2006, 12:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
Aardvark Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Oxonia Posts: 4,253	Vicar steps down for cheek kiss http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/5176802.stm We're all doomed. I've been working abroad a lot this year. Half of Europe kiss each other as a form of greeting. In my travels I have had both Arab and Russian policemen kiss me on the cheek. When I left Palestine one or 2 of the guys kissed me on the lips (in a non-sexual way you understand :roll: ). We are in danger of becoming the saddest nation in Europe, if not the world, when a congratulatory kiss on the cheek in public becomes the cause of a complete waste of police time and wrecks the career of someone. We will become a cultural backwater devoid of humanity and obsessed with being PC to the exclusion of everything else.

14-07-2006, 09:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 32,059 Party: Libertarian Party	Yes more detail requried. If he was forced out, then this is sick. If he just got sick of being questioned, then that's his personal choice.The woman whop complained is pathetic. __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Lib Dems

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14-07-2006, 08:44 AM	#2 (permalink)
John Page Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Welwyn Hatfield (Herts.) Posts: 1,878	Just to be clear, he doesn't seem to have lost his job. He has, though, stepped down as a school governor. It seems to be the mother who complained. I don't think we have enough detail to make a firm judgement on this incident, but I take your general point.

14-07-2006, 11:17 AM	#5 (permalink)
jim h Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 361	Sadly because of the furore about this sort of thing and the dangers of being accused of inappropriate behaviour I decided some 5 years ago it was no longer sensible or wise to be a good Samaritan. If you decide to help a woman or child you stand a significant risk of having a knock on the door at 6 a.m from the police. It is no wonder society is dead and people are concerned only about themselves and immediate family.

14-07-2006, 11:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
Aardvark Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Oxonia Posts: 4,253	In the good old days I was asked to cover for Santa at a playgroup that my daughter had previously attended. Every child, boy or girl, sat on my knee while I asked them, in full view and hearing of their mothers, what they wanted for Xmas. I may have patted heads and backs and lifted the kids up and down. Nobody objected and many of the mothers thanked me. It was a lovely experience looking into innocent and trusting eyes, but I never thought anything more until this recent obsession with paedophiles. I wouldn't dare cover for Santa ever again. The mother in this case sounds particularly strange and vindictive. I think her child is more at risk from having her as a parent than she would be getting the odd peck from a tactile vicar. The child is going to be gobsmacked if she travels abroad. In the last year I have, because of my international work, been kissed by people, all women, of German, Dutch, French, Italian, Lithuanian, Macedonian and Belarussian origin to name a few. I've hugged one or two. I have shaken hands with people of another 20 nationalities. I have been kissed by a few foreign blokes. Humans are supposed to touch other.

14-07-2006, 04:27 PM	#7 (permalink)
colin smith Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 181	Hi everybody, I agree with jim and Aardvark. It is so very sad that innocent behaviour of yesteryear is now a criminal offence. The mother of the child involved does indeed seem a very vindictive person, and is probably a serious threat to the child. I would NEVER help a female in trouble, and have packed up being a First Aider for fear of litigation.

14-07-2006, 05:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
Bluemerle Uber Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dorset. Posts: 3,252	The mother has a real problem. I feel sorry for the little girl, fancy having a vindictive PC person for a mother. Common assault, what nonsense :shock: This woman definately needs the help of a psychiatrist.

18-07-2006, 12:53 PM	#10 (permalink)
realifezombie Newbie Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 9	I think the woman should be charged with wasting police and social services time and pay compensation to the vicar who will now be stigmatised for the rest of his life. The church authorities should be up before a tribunal for requesting that the vicar resign, as too should the board of governors of the school. Staffordshire education authority should also compensate Mr Barrett. Phillip Noyes of the NSPCC should grow up. He is the type of person who will advocate children growing up without any physical contact even with their parents. That poor child will grow up now with the stigma that a vicar “molested” her. That is the conditioning her mother will instil in her, and it will ruin her life forever.