‘WHY were we not listened to?’

That was the question being asked by former pupils of a shamed Hampshire teacher found with vile images of children being sexually exploited on his computer have told of their anger – amid claims they made complaints about him which were ignored.

Several ex students have contacted the Daily Echo saying they and their parents had reported concerns about Edmund Warbrick’s conduct to school bosses but were never listened to.

Many more have taken to social media saying they too had raised issues about Sholing Technology College’s former music teacher who has now been sacked and narrowly avoided a jail term after police were called in to investigate.

However the Daily Echo’s attempts to establish whether previous complaints had been made and what, if any, action was taken by the school against Warbrick have today been met with a wall of silence from all authorities concerned.

As revealed by the Daily Echo yesterday, 48-year-old Warbrick was given a suspended jail term by a judge after admitting to possessing 18 images of children as young as nine were found on his home computer.

Four of them were in the most serious category, Southampton Crown Court heard, while Warbrick was also found in possession of extreme pornographic images of animals.

In his defence, the court heard he had only looked at the images in the past two and a half years while drinking and he was a man of previous good character.

Judge Peter Henry gave him a six month jail term, suspended for two years, but also banned him from working with children or contacting anyone under the age of 16 on the internet.

The charges came to light after staff at the school, where he worked since 1994, received numerous complaints about him in July last year.

But pupils at the Middle Road school, where Warbrick spent 20-years as a music teacher and tutor, say they raised issues during the 1990s and 2000s that were not listened to.

Among them was a mum of one from Thornhill, who was a pupil at the school between 2003 and 2008.

She told us she complained about Warbrick’s behaviour in class, along with many of her friends and their parents.

The 22-year-old said: “This silence is not good enough, we should be told the truth. I am really disappointed that we are not being told.

“The complaints made by ourselves and the parents at the time should have been logged. If they are not telling us, then either this didn’t happen, which is wrong, or someone is hiding the information for some reason.

“This man was working in an environment with children - to keep quiet about something as important as this is not right at all.”

Another former pupil, who asked not to be named, claims she was expelled after making complaints about the teacher’s conduct and is furious that she feels she was not listened to.

The 26-year-old said: “Being expelled had a massive effect on my life. I am so angry that I was never listened to. I kept telling the teachers but nobody wanted to know.

“We need to know the truth now - keeping quiet about it all can’t go on.”

Daily Echo:

Sholing Technology College

However when the Daily Echo made attempts to find out if earlier complaints were made against Warbrick, and what action - if any - was taken, we were met with a wall of silence.

Southampton City Council, as the school’s education authority, said it had taken advice from its legal department and could not provide that information.

A spokesperson cited “safeguarding issues” and said the information, if it exists, would be subject to a Freedom of Information request.

A spokesman then told us: “Unfortunately it is a request that were still have not processed because we don’t know if we even have this information, it might be in the school’s hands.”

The Daily Echo also approached the school itself regarding the claims, which relate to a period before the current head teacher Martin Brown took charge, but received no response to our enquiry.

Daily Echo:

Warbrick as Austin Powers

But Mr Brown, who started at the school in September – after Warbrick had already been suspended – sent a letter home to parents, offering students and staff counselling.

In the letter he states that while the charges against Warbrick do not relate to his conduct on the school site and do not relate to a student, he understood concerns that parents may have.

He added: “I can assure you that we have been co-operating fully with the police in their criminal investigation against this former member of staff and have had the full support of Southampton City Council. The school has been praised for the promptness with which we responded once issues were raised.”

Meanwhile Ofsted, the watchdog that oversees and is charged with maintaining school standards in the UK, would not confirm if it had ever received previous complaints relating to Warbrick and the school.

Hampshire police was unavailable for comment.

Ofsted

OFSTED said it would not rule out a fresh investigation into the Southampton school where shamed teacher Edmund Warbrick worked for 20 years.

A spokesperson from the education watchdog said that while it would not reveal if any former complaints had been made about Warbick or the school itself, it could be possible that a new enquiry could happen.

They added that Ofsted would look into claims if a number of pupils or parents approached them directly.

However, they added that if students or their relatives felt that they had not got a suitable response from the school at the time, the next step would be to contact the local authority, in this case, Southampton City Council.

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “While Ofsted does not comment nor confirm whether we have received complaints about a school, we take complaints very seriously and would investigate and respond to any concerns raised with us accordingly.

“Complaints received form part of Ofsted’s risk assessment and can result in bringing an inspection forward.”