A MERSEYSIDE superheadteacher last night pledged to win his job back after being sacked as he lay in a hospital bed with a suspected heart attack.
Kevin Cooney, 59, was suspended on full pay from Garswood Primary, in St Helens, after it was discovered building work with new windows and doors was “unsafe”, and would cost £20,000 to repair.
The superheadteacher, who was headhunted by the Government to help failing schools across the North West, believed he would be cleared of any wrongdoing at a hearing last month. But, on his way to the disciplinary hearing from his home in Maghull, he suffered chest pains and was taken to Fazakerley Hospital.
In his absence, and without any representation, the disciplinary panel of school governors upheld the gross misconduct charge, and sacked him.
Mr Cooney has already lodged an appeal and says he will take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
He said: “I was at the top of my career. During my time at the school, I had never ever been criticised and had won many awards. This has cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds. I wanted to stay at work, I thought it would be over and done with. I never believed it would come to this.”
The father-of-one was suspended in March last year after work carried out in the summer 2007 holiday was declared unsafe by the council.
But Mr Cooney insists responsibility for the project lies with a building sub-committee made up of a site manager and school governors.
He said the work was carried out while he was on holiday and the school, which benefits from an extra £60,000 from his secondment as superhead, had funded the work in the first place and could have paid for any necessary alterations to comply with local authority standards.
He was suspended on the grounds of failing to implement proper project management, failing to properly advise the governors, and commissioning work which “exposed the school to health and safety difficulties” and financial concerns.
Alec McFadden, president of the Merseyside TUC, who has been representing Mr Cooney, said: “The hearing was held on a date I couldn’t attend as I was with another client. I thought people were entitled to defend themselves or have a representative but that isn’t the case here.”
A spokesman for St Helens Council said: “The governors have agreed to dismiss Mr Cooney, who has since launched an appeal which is being processed. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
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