'Bullied' pupils sue school for £50,000

Two former pupils are suing their old school and education authority for £100,000 after claiming a gang of bullies destroyed their schooldays.

Caroline Newby, now aged 20, and Jamie Bright, also 20, are each claiming £50,000 damages from their school, Shotton Hall comprehensive in Peterlee, and Durham County Council.

Philip Cramer, representing the two, told Teesside County Court how a gang of eight girl bullies had transformed Miss Newby from a model pupil at the age of 12 to a psychological wreck who became so afraid of the classroom she missed a quarter of her schooldays.

An educational psychologist in 1996 diagnosed Miss Newby was suffering anxiety because of bullying. At one stage, she was admitted to hospital for stress-related stomach pains. She is still on anti-depressants.

At the same time, Mr Bright was being preyed on by male bullies. Mr Cramer said he still needed anti-depressants to cope with memories of his schooldays because staff had failed to tackle the problem.

Miss Newby, who had tried hypnotherapy and a confidence-building course to put her schooldays behind her, wept as she told the court how, when she was 13, her teacher had called her into a room to meet the girls who had been bullying her.

"The teacher said to them, 'Are you bullying Caroline?' and they said, 'No'," she said. "The teacher then left me in the room with them and they said, 'We are going to get you'. They said it was the worst thing I could ever have done and said, 'Wait until you go home'."

Mr Bright is claiming he was physically assaulted when two pupils punched him in class and another set fire to his jacket in a chemistry lesson. After one attack by a pupil, he had to have four days off school.

The case, which was adjourned for a short time yesterday when Miss Newby's mother collapsed in court while her husband was giving evidence, continues.