Dad banned from school on sports day after ‘accidentally’ wearing t-shirt with sweary slogan
Headteacher even called social services and cops on him
A SINGLE dad has been banned from his children’s school after accidentally wearing a t-shirt with an offensive word at sports day.
Craig McBeth says when he was unable to pick up his kids because of the ban and staff then called social services and cops.
The dad-of-two, who had even been a governor for four years at Park Primary School in Colne, Burnley, has accused head teacher Sarah Midgely of overreacting.
He claims that despite immediately apologising and turning the comedy Red Dwarf t-shirt inside out, the next day he was barred from the school grounds.
He says he is being unfairly punished for mistakenly putting on the t-shirt in a rush before going to watch his two children compete.
The t-shirt had a picture of Craig Charles’ character Lister from the cult BBC comedy with one of his iconic lines - "Let’s go out and tw*t it".
The dad, who has now quit as a school governor, said: ";It was a mistake, an oversight on my part. I was not thinking about sports day and rushing when I put it on.
"Towards the end of the event we were having a father’s race and the head teacher noticed my t-shirt and said it was not appropriate. I apologised and turned it inside out and thought that was the end of the matter."
The 36-year-old said he received an email from the chairman of governors later that evening asking him to meet with the head the next day, but he did not see the need after he had already apologised.
Related stories
The father, who had been a governor for four years, said: "The headteacher then phoned me and said I was barred from the school premises.
"I found out after the sports day some of the parents went on Facebook and made a fuss about it and that got a lot of people interested.
"Any right-minded person would think this was an overreaction."
Mr McBeth, who is also the editor of online magazine Love Mini, said could not pick his children up on the last day of term, because of the ban.
This prompted a phone call from the school and social services.
"I told them I was not there because they had banned me from the school," he said.
"I then got a phone call from social services asking why I had not picked my daughter up. The school also called the police because I did not pick up my daughter for about 40 minutes."
The letter adds he is no longer permitted to come on to the school premises and the prohibition will continue until further notice. He was also warned he could face a fine of £500 if found trespassing.
Sarah Midgley, headteacher at Park Primary School, said: "I can confirm that Mr McBeth has resigned and is no longer a governor at our school.
"This matter is now closed and I’m looking forward to getting back to normal school life in September."
Burnley councillor Joe Cooney said the school had clear policies and guidelines.
"We all have to bear in mind when you take on these roles such as a councillor or governor you are held to a higher standard and unfortunately this time he has not met that standard," he said.
Councillor Jonathan Nixon added he did not think the school should have banned him and the situation had been blown out of proportion.
"He was stupid to wear the T-shirt and he apologised at the time," he said.
Lancashire Police confirmed they were called by the school, but did not attend.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368.