Dinner lady's 'grooming' warning 'takes the biscuit'

A County Fermanagh school has been criticised after warning a dinner lady who gave a child a biscuit that she could be seen to be 'grooming' the boy. It happened at St Mary's Primary in Brookeborough in January 2008. The incident was reported after the woman left her job. She has since returned.

Chair of the Stormont Education committee Mervyn Storey described it as "political correctness gone too far". The case was reported to the Northern Irish Ombudsman, Tom Frawley, who said the woman should receive an apology from and a payment from the local education authority. In a copy of the Ombudsman's report the woman was told by the acting principal that under the Child Protection Act, she could be seen to be grooming the boy after arranging for him to be given a biscuit.



The catering supervisor, who was a relative of the child, then had to attend three meetings, firstly with the acting principal then two with the school principal. One of the meetings with the principal lasted over an hour and he wanted her to attend a fourth. The woman decided to leave her job as she felt she had been subjected to a "grilling".

She made a complaint to the body responsible for education in the area, the Western Education and Library Board (WELB). The Ombudsman Tom Frawley said the woman had endured gossip and rumours over a period of two years. His report found that the Western Board failed to address a complaint the woman made about her treatment "promptly and appropriately".