Former detective gives evidence at Christchurch Boy’s High employment hearing

PHOTO: CHRISTCHURCH BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL

An ex-police officer has told an Employment Relations Authority hearing of his concerns over how Christchurch Boys' High School handled an incident involving a student filming a teacher.

The

New Zealand Herald

reported former detective sergeant Daniel Isherwood gave evidence on Wednesday at the ongoing Employment Relations Authority hearing into a claim by former CBHS teacher Susan Mowat she was unfairly dismissed.

Mowat taught at the school for over a decade and resigned at the end of 2019.

Earlier this week, the

Herald

reported Mowat told the ERA her departure was a result of "being targeted" by CBHS headmaster Nic Hill.

She said she was falsely accused of sending a series of anonymous letters to the CBHS board of trustees with allegations about Hill, the

Herald

reported.

She also says she was blamed for leaking details of a serious incident involving a student filming a teacher to the media. But the

Herald

reported it was later confirmed Mowat did not share the details.

Isherwood was involved in that investigation. He said he was surprised it appeared more was done to censure the teacher than to deal with the matter, the

Herald

reported.

"I was not satisfied that the principal fully appreciated the seriousness of the incident,” he told an ERA member today.

"It wasn’t taken particularly seriously ... the fact it was even criminal at all didn’t seem to be acknowledged.

"I felt he [Hill] was quite dismissive and brief ... like there was ‘nothing to see here’.

ERA member Lucia Vincent has heard extensive evidence from Mowat this week about the "deterioration" of her relationship with Hill, the

Herald

reported.

During evidence yesterday, Mowat said she believed Hill "left faeces" at her property eight times. She claimed it was "retaliation" for her raising concerns about him with the board and police.

Mowat said the first incident came after she conveyed fears for her safety to the board and police, the

Herald

reported.

“I said: ‘I am terrified he is going to come to my house and do something … turn up and throw a stone … do something … I felt I was going to be retaliated against in some way,” Mowat told Vincent.

CBHS lawyer AJ Lodge said Hill and the board “had to raise concerns” with Mowat during her employment about her behaviour. Mowat had been “told repeatedly over 2018 not to spread misinformation" about Hill or the school, Lodge said.