A British school splashed £6,500 ($9,400) of public money on lawyers and PR men to stop embarrassing stories of racial tensions in its playground being published.
Heat Street can reveal that the Sir William Stanier Community School in Crewe, Cheshire, burned through thousands trying to stop media outlets reporting on the aftermath of a playground brawl.
Ofsted have carried out an unscheduled inspection of Sir William Stanier School, in Crewe, after a fight where police had to be called
— BBC Radio Stoke (@BBCRadioStoke) February 13, 2016
The school, which as an academy is free to spend government cash how it pleases, was rocked by a large fight on its grounds in February.
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Police were called to the scene of the fight, which parents claim was sparked by racial tensions in the student body, which has a large proportion of Eastern European students.
Reports based on testimony from children who witnessed the dispute said that children had their hair pulled, that English children were ordered to submit to Slovakian classmates and that knives and screwdrivers were wielded.
The school and the local police force both denied that anything more serious than a six-person playground brawl had occurred.
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But parents insist the reality was more violent. Some, who spoke to Heat Street, said they were scared to speak out about publicly for fear of reprisals against their children.
Vigilante groups of locals took to the streets in response, and police were forced to lay on extra patrols. The government’s official schools inspector also made a visit.
When media outlets, who spoke with parents, contacted the school for comment, they were met with aggressive lobbyists and media lawyers who attempted to dissuade newspapers and website from airing the parents’ claims.
Teenager arrested following Sir William Stanier incident https://t.co/E29FLkTpiX
— Vanessa Frost (@aeon456) February 8, 2016
The school paid the PLMR lobbying agency and the Hill Dickinson law firm to play down the story, warning of potential legal action to follow.
A strong-arm approach to dealing with stories can lead to media organizations deciding the legal fight is not worth the effort, and dropping contentious stories altogether, or censoring them heavily.
Omg did you hear about that fight ir should I say that war at sir William stanier. So stupid!????
— Daniel (@LegendaryGink) February 4, 2016
The tactic is usually the preserve of A-list celebrities with scandals to suppress, or companies accused of major wrong-doing, rather than local educators in northern England.
Freedom of Information requests by Heat Street revealed that the bill for their services to the school totaled £6,645.70.
£4,003.20 was to pay for PR, while a further £2,643.50 went to the law firm. Both figures represent the annual spend on the respective companies.
The school refused requests for a more detailed breakdown, but it is likely the brawl and its repercussions were the only events warranting this level of response.
A spokesman for the school told Heat Street: “This was an isolated incident several months ago but prompted rumours on social media that were categorically not true, as the police confirmed.
“These unfounded rumours led to some inaccurate media coverage, and we enlisted the help of specialists so that we, as teachers, were able to concentrate on our most important work, which is providing the best possible education for the young people of Crewe.”
