Latest news with #SimonPearson
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Teacher sacked and branded 'Islamophobic' after he was reported over a Facebook post criticising Lucy Connolly's prison sentence says he has lost everything after the 'witch hunt'
A teacher who was fired after a Facebook post in which he criticised Lucy Connolly's jail sentence says he has lost everything following a 'witch hunt'. Simon Pearson has spoken out after being branded Islamophobic following his social media message about the imprisoned wife of a former Conservative councillor. Mr Pearson, a former employee of Preston College, was subject to an internal investigation following his comment that Connolly 'should not have been jailed' - after two Facebook contacts reported him. Connolly, 42, was given a 31-month sentence last October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. She had written on social media following last summer's Southport-related riots: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... if that makes me racist so be it.' In his online comment, Mr Pearson described Connolly's words as 'obviously wrong', but said he believed her prison sentence was a 'two-tier policy from the top down'. An internal investigation was launched following a complaint submitted by a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the school who alleged that the post was 'Islamophobic' and 'racially discriminatory'. Mr Pearson has said he apologised and also claimed to have provided evidence of his support for both Muslim students and asylum seekers. Pictured: Mr Pearson's Facebook post criticising her jail term that eventually resulted in his dismissal. Preston College's investigation deemed the post a violation of its policies He has now been speaking about the impact of the furore on him while defending his previously 'spotless' record as a teacher. He told the Daily Mail: 'I was blindsided. Someone reported my private posts without a word to me. 'It felt like being snitched on in the dark - no conversation, no context, just condemnation. 'Twenty years of dedicated service, a spotless record, and deep care for every student - including many Muslim pupils I've supported and mentored - was wiped away. 'The accusation of "Islamophobia" became a label that no amount of truth could peel off. 'It was like living through a witch hunt. Once the accusation was made, the process felt less like an investigation and more like a verdict already written.' The college's investigation deemed the posts a violation of its policies, damaging of professional relationships and likely to bring the college's reputation into disrepute. Mr Pearson previously said he had been left 'appalled' by the decision, particularly given his long-standing commitment to helping support and educate students 'from all walks of life'. He has now added: 'I spoke out about real concerns, about the Manchester Airport attack, Southport, and the Lucy Connolly case. 'These are matters of public safety and justice. If we silence the freedom to express concern and ask questions, we're in serious trouble as a society. 'I've lost my livelihood, my reputation, and my peace of mind - not because I did something wrong, but because I dared to speak. 'If a teacher with a 20-year unblemished record can be sacked for expressing valid concerns shared by millions in their own time, then none of us are safe and something has to change so that no one else has to go through what I have.' Mr Pearso has now launched legal action at an employment tribunal, claiming wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, harassment and discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, told the Daily Mail he was 'shocked' by the decision to sack Mr Pearson. He accused the National Education Union of 'siding with the bosses rather than the workers when it comes to breaches of workplace speech codes'. The NEU said in a statement: 'The management of Preston College reached a decision to dismiss the teacher following disciplinary procedures. 'The NEU was not directly involved in these processes and it will be for the Employment Tribunal to consider the fairness of the dismissal if and when the claim reaches a hearing.' Preston College said: 'Upon receipt of complaints from a number of our staff, an internal investigation was undertaken into whether some of Mr Pearson's social media posts were a breach of the College's Staff Behaviour Code and Values. 'Following an investigation and subsequent disciplinary process, Mr Pearson was dismissed from his employment at the College.' It comes after former childminder Connolly, of Northampton, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in October and imprisoned at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire, after admitting to making her 'racist' post on X, formerly known as Twitter. With about 9,000 followers on X at the time, her message was reposted 940 times and viewed 310,000 times before she deleted it around three and a half hours later. The mother-of-one was arrested on August 6 last year, by which point she had deleted her social media account. But other messages which included other condemning remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. Her X post was made just hours after killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls and attempted to murder 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year, sparking nationwide unrest. A number of public figures and politicians have spoken out since Connolly was handed her sentence, claiming that she is a victim of 'two-tier justice'. Connolly lost an appeal in May this year to shorten her 31-month sentence despite telling the Court of Appeal in London she 'never' intended to incite violence and did not realise that pleading guilty would mean accepting she had. Connolly's husband, Raymond, a former West Northamptonshire Conservative councillor, said on the day she lost her appeal: 'Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she will release 40,000 prisoners, some of them dangerous men on tag. 'Lucy has not been allowed out on tag and she has been denied leave to see our child who is struggling. 'The court had the opportunity to reduce her cruelly long and disproportionate sentence, but they refused. That feels like two-tier justice.' The Daily Mail revealed this week how Connolly is set for release soon, with a friend sharing a post to X saying she believed the convict would be 'with a glass of Whispering Angel in-hand' this time next month. It is understood Connolly will be freed on August 21.
Spectator
6 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
The lies of the land
You can gauge the fragility of an ideology by the blind fury with which it reacts to questioning. So it is with neo-liberalism. Teacher Simon Pearson, for example, was sacked for suggesting that the jailing of Lucy Connolly – who said very nasty things about asylum seekers – was an example of two-tier justice and that, while her words were indefensible, she should not have been sent to prison. One could counter that opinion, but only at the risk of coming into collision with hard facts concerning sentencing – hence the sacking. Best to get shot of your political opponents, especially when he or she is demonstrably correct. Only by doing that can the ideology cling on. The other form of defence, if you are the adherent of an ideology which is palpably on its way out, is to lie to people, or to withhold information from them. Just shrug your shoulders and say: 'Search me, mate – we don't have any information on that, I'm afraid.' For a good 60 years the British public have been lied to about immigration and had information withheld from them. The reason that information was withheld is because the authorities know full well that possession of it would infuriate the great mass of people. And so, when some deranged jihadi murders somebody, we are not given his ethnicity, or we are told a lie (that he is a Norwegian, say), or a truism – that he is mental. If the police released the ethnicity of the suspect every time a serious crime was committed, the public would be even more averse to continued mass immigration from cultures dissimilar to our own than they are at the moment. I still suspect that Crimewatch was taken off air a decade or so ago because the gallery of criminals displayed each week revealed a remarkable dearth of white folks in it. The programme is back, by the way, with diverse presenters and they don't do the rogues' gallery thing any more. The lying, or obfuscation, about immigration has included withholding crime figures from us. Until recently we were un-aware that foreign nationals living in the UK were 70 per cent more likely to be convicted of sexual crimes. Meanwhile Algerians were 18 times more likely to be convicted of theft. The proportion of the under-18 prison population which is of black heritage is 30 per cent, compared with 5.5 per cent of under-18s in the general population. These figures are all comparatively new to us and they have been released for the simple reason that the dominant paradigm, the guff we've been fed for decades – that multiculturalism is terrific and immigrants commit no more crime than do the locals – is increasingly rejected as being not merely untrue, but absurd. The only comeback you will hear from the left on the issue of, say, young black offenders is that if they constitute 30 per cent of the under-18 prison population, then the majority of underage crime must be committed by white youths. This is what I call the Dave Allen argument, and it has been deployed over and over again in the case of the Pakistani rape gangs, despite what we might agree are its obvious flaws. So we have been lied to about crime rates among immigrants, or simply not told. But we have also been lied to about how many immigrants are here, how many will continue to flood in and what benefit they will be to society. It is quite common for the left to insist that an influx of 900,000 or so every year will not have any impact upon our crumbling infrastructure – housing, schools, the NHS and so on – despite the epic denial of reality that this involves. More recently, however, the truth has begun to leak out. While we are continually told that immigration boosts the economy, a report last year from the Office for Budget Responsibility showed that a low-skilled migrant costs the British taxpayer an average of £150,000 by the time he or she has reached pensionable age, and £500,000 if they make it to 80. This is the first time we have been given such information, and my suggestion is that in future the OBR breaks it down by individual ethnicity. Meanwhile, at the beginning of this year it was estimated that by 2063 white British people will be a minority in their own country. For decades anti-immigrant groups and right-wing politicians have warned of this and their claims were laughed off as ludicrous. Nope, not ludicrous: the truth. And of course any time conscientious politicians raised the issue of mass immigration, the liberal authorities wheeled out the great wicker man of Enoch and set it on fire, while denouncing all those who questioned the avidity with which this country yearned for suicide as 'racist' and 'far-right'. The slightly better news is that the public no longer buys this rubbish. For a long while, attitudes towards immigration among the general public seemed to soften, the consequence of being kept in the dark, being lied to and not wanting to seem 'racist' to the nice researchers. Not any more. The latest YouGov poll shows that a whopping 45 per cent of Brits are in favour of admitting precisely zero new migrants and wish for large numbers to be persuaded somehow to leave the country. That would have been an unthinkable proportion even ten years ago. Meanwhile, only a small minority believe that immigration has been mostly good for the country, and three-quarters oppose greater numbers still coming here. The lesson from this is that the centre cannot hold, that the disinformation no longer works – and that people are angry. Here, as in continental Europe, the indigenous populations have roused a little from their enforced slumber. A shame, really, that it's too late.
Daily Mail
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Teacher, 56, who was dubbed 'Islamophobic' after labelling Lucy Connolly's prison sentence as 'two-tier policing' hits out and says he is fighting to clear his name
A teacher who was branded 'Islamophobic' has revealed it is now 'very difficult to find another job' after two Facebook friends reported him for a post criticising Lucy Connolly's prison sentence. Simon Pearson, a former employee of Preston College, was subject to an internal investigation following his comment that Connolly 'should not have been jailed'. Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor, had been handed a 31-month sentence in October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred in a social media post following last year's Southport riots. The post, which the 42-year-old later deleted, said: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... if that makes me racist so be it.' In his online comment, Mr Pearson described Connolly's words as 'obviously wrong', but said he believed her prison sentence was a 'two tier policy from the top down'. Speaking to GB News, the 56-year-old this evening said he 'very much' agreed his free speech had been 'violated'. Mr Pearson explained: 'I've served at Preston College for 20 years - I've served my students faithfully, I've been defending their rights as well from whatever race, from whatever religion. 'I've demonstrated to the college as well that they have no basis in their actions and unfortunately they dismissed me.' Pictured: Mr Pearson's Facebook post that eventually resulted in his dismissal. Preston College's investigation deemed the post a violation of its policies, damaging of professional relationships and likely to bring the college's reputation into disrepute The teacher said he had stated Connolly's post was 'appalling' and 'indefensible' - but also that she had deleted it soon after and 'obviously didn't mean what she said'. Mr Pearson added: 'Policing social media is awful for our country - it has been for me; being labelled Islamophobic has made it very difficult for me to find another job. And it's not true. 'You should be able to express what you really believe - what is of concern in society - without fear of recrimination.' He clarified it had not been his Union that made the report but in fact 'two people who were on my Facebook friends (list)'. 'They were the ones who'd told the Union what I'd written and through the Union they brought that to the college,' he said. Mr Pearson concluded: 'It's a travesty really and that's why I'm fighting to clear my name.' An internal investigation was launched following a complaint submitted by a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the school who alleged that the post was 'Islamophobic' and 'racially discriminatory'. Mr Pearson said that following the concern, he apologised and also claimed to have provided evidence of his support for both Muslim students and asylum seekers. Simon Pearson, a teacher at Preston College, has said he fell victim to an unfair 'witch hunt' which resulted in his dismissal from his position at Preston College after he publicly criticised Lucy Connolly's (pictured) prison sentence However, the college's investigation deemed the posts a violation of its policies, damaging of professional relationships and likely to bring the college's reputation into disrepute. Mr Pearson previously said he had been left 'appalled' by the decision, particularly given his long-standing commitment to helping support and educate students 'from all walks of life'. Describing his dismissal as a 'grave injustice', he told The Telegraph: 'As soon as I was branded "Islamophobic" for expressing concern about violent crime, I became a marked man. 'It was clear that I had to be found guilty by the college, it became a witch hunt, and I had to be eliminated no matter what.' Mr Pearson, who has now launched legal action at an employment tribunal, has claimed wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, harassment and discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, told the Daily Mail he was 'shocked' by the decision to sack Mr Pearson, criticising the NEU (National Education Union) for 'siding with the bosses rather than the workers when it comes to breaches of workplace speech codes'. It comes after Connolly, of Northampton, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in October and imprisoned at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire after admitting to making her 'racist' post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The 42-year-old former childminder, wife of Conservative councillor Ray Connolly, lost her 19-month-old son, Harry, in 2011. With around 9,000 followers on X at the time, Connolly's message was reposted 940 times and viewed 310,000 times before she deleted it around three and a half hours later. The mother-of-one was arrested on August 6 last year, by which point she had deleted her social media account. But other messages which included other condemning remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. Her X post was made just hours after killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls and attempted to murder 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29, sparking nationwide unrest. A number of public figures and politicians have spoken out since Connolly was handed her sentence, claiming that she is a victim of 'two-tier justice'. Connolly's husband, Raymond, a former West Northamptonshire Conservative councillor, said on the day she lost her appeal: 'Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she will release 40,000 prisoners, some of them dangerous men on tag. 'Lucy has not been allowed out on tag and she has been denied leave to see our child who is struggling. 'The court had the opportunity to reduce her cruelly long and disproportionate sentence, but they refused. That feels like two-tier justice.' Adelle Healy, 42, who has been friends with Connolly for nine years, previously told the Daily Mail: 'Lucy was horrified and heartbroken that three little girls had been murdered. She let her emotions take over and wrote something that she definitely shouldn't have done but she has paid a very dear price. 'She should not be behind bars for a tweet. I think it's ludicrous that it's got to this point.' In May, Connolly lost an appeal to shorten her 31-month sentence despite telling the Court of Appeal in London she 'never' intended to incite violence and did not realise that pleading guilty would mean she accepted that she had. Meanwhile, earlier this week, The Daily Mail revealed a friend of Connolly had shared a post to X saying she believed the convict would be 'with a glass of Whispering Angel in-hand' this time next month. It is understood Connolly will be released on August 21. The National Education Union said in a statement: 'The management of Preston College reached a decision to dismiss the teacher following disciplinary procedures. 'The NEU was not directly involved in these processes and it will be for the Employment Tribunal to consider the fairness of the dismissal if and when the claim reaches a hearing.' Preston College added: 'Upon receipt of complaints from a number of our staff, an internal investigation was undertaken into whether some of Mr Pearson's social media posts were a breach of the College's Staff Behaviour Code and Values. 'Following an investigation and subsequent disciplinary process, Mr Pearson was dismissed from his employment at the College.'
Telegraph
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Simon Pearson's sacking is a stark warning to censorship Britain
With a teacher being fired from his role after saying that Lucy Connolly's prison sentence was a case of two-tier justice, there are growing fears of what the impact of a new 'Islamophobia' definition could have on freedom of expression in modern Britain. In a post on social media, 56-year-old Simon Pearson, a teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages (Esol) at Preston College, said Connolly's unquestionably inflammatory comments were 'obviously wrong' but she 'should not have been jailed'. Pearson was subsequently dismissed after an internal investigation – prompted by a complaint from a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the college – concluded that his online posts had the potential to bring it into disrepute. If truth be told, I have found much of the online Right's lionisation of the imprisoned Lucy Connolly – who has been depicted as some kind of persecuted free-speech heroine – totally bizarre. But surely Pearson, living in a supposedly free and democratic society, has the right to express his opinion that her prison sentence was harsh, when compared to the lenient sentences provided to others for offences considered to be more serious in nature? In another post on the Manchester Airport incident, over which Mohammed Fahir Amaaz has now been found guilty of assaulting two female police officers, Pearson claimed that 'if these people have no respect for the police and UK laws, they need deporting back to their ancestral home'. There is no evidence that Pearson made these comments on the grounds of Amaaz's specific racial and religious background, and he may well have made them if the two brothers involved in the fracas were white Christian men originating from the Balkans. Pearson, as an Esol teacher in Preston, is likely to have provided support to Muslim students and asylum seekers whilst serving in this role. This certainly does not strike me as the choice of profession by an anti-Muslim racist bigot. Some may find his opinions disagreeable, perhaps even offensive – but no one has the right to be protected from views which they may find uncomfortable but are causing them no direct harm. His sacking also serves as a warning – a new 'Islamophobia' definition could be used as an instrument of censorship by tribal activists to threaten the livelihoods of those expressing political views which are not even directly anti-Muslim in nature. Such a development will only further undermine Britain's previous reputation for being the home of free speech.
Leader Live
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Britain's Got Talent Final: Olly Pearson's family "proud"
Wowing the judges and audience with yet another electrifying performance during the semi-final, 'Guitar Olly' earned his second golden buzzer sending him straight through to this year's final. The final takes place this Saturday (May 31) and the 11-year-old from Wrexham will compete for the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Show and be in with a chance of winning a £250,000 cash prize. Ahead of the final, Olly's Dad, Simon Pearson has spoken about the excitement of the whole experience. Olly with his grandad Lee (Image: ITV Britain's Got Talent) Simon said: "The whole experience has been brilliant. Olly has worked so hard. We are massively proud of the hours of practice and love he puts into his guitar playing. "We never have to ask Olly to practice, he just loves to play and I think people appreciate how hard it is to play the way he does at his age. In the last few weeks he has been practicing for a minimum for two to three hours a day. MOST READ: Wrexham man jailed after threatening people with knife and spitting at police officer Flintshire man jailed after being caught with 300+ indecent images of children Dad describes how joy turned to terror and panic at Liverpool victory parade "The support Olly has had has been incredible plus two Golden buzzers, he is just so proud to be in the final and we are so proud of what he has achieved. He is too modest to think about winning! "It has honestly been amazing, the people we meet in person and online have been so kind, it means a lot to Olly to hear how his music affects people and the joy they get from his playing. "His school and friends have loved the excitement of BGT."
