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The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 5:02 pm
by jtaylor
I've had contact from the school today, letting me know that they've been advised that this thread on the current trial could be prejudicial to the extent of causing the trial to collapse. I have therefore agreed to remove it, since I hope you'd all agree that none of us would want, however unwittingly, to cause that to happen.

Let's watch and wait for the outcome.

Julian
Admin, founder.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:15 pm
by yamaha
Did they explain what they thought might prejudice the trial? The comments were very restrained and neutral. I can understand their discomfort with some of off-topic discussion.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:20 pm
by jtaylor
Not in any detail, no. But I'm keen not to risk impacting the trial in any way, hence erring on the side of caution.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:39 pm
by yamaha
Understand. But I imagine they are more concerned about the inevitable civil suits using comments on here.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:40 pm
by richardb
Jurors are specifically warned not to trawl the Internet for information.

There was nothing in the thread which would have caused problem, in the remote event that a juror found it.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:45 pm
by bakunin
Would it be possible to re-publish the thread after the trial is over? There were some interesting topics being discussed, even when they did stray from the main point of the discussion... Or could those comments be saved and moved to a new thread eventually? Several friends of mine had intended to make further comments on CH in the 1990s.

Unfortunately I don't particularly believe what CH admin have to say about anything as they have given me absolutely no reason to think that their motives are not totally self-serving, but I can see that you have little choice but to give them the benefit of the doubt...

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:52 pm
by richardb
bakunin wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:45 pm Would it be possible to re-publish the thread after the trial is over? There were some interesting topics being discussed, even when they did stray from the main point of the discussion... Or could those comments be saved and moved to a new thread eventually? Several friends of mine had intended to make further comments on CH in the 1990s.

Unfortunately I don't particularly believe what CH admin have to say about anything appearing on the internet as they have given me absolutely no reason to think that their motives are not totally self-serving, but I can see that you have little choice but to give them the benefit of the doubt...
I agree with you.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:02 pm
by LHA
It's not fair to blame Julian, who set up an internet forum some years ago, for worthwhile and unconnected reasons and cannot be expected to second guess issues of legal prejudice. However it would be interesting after the trial to see in detail what request was made, by whom and referencing what authority.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:07 pm
by richardb
I wouldn't dream of blaming him.

I am not particular trusting of the school and am a little surprised at the chain of events. Anything more will be said after verdict.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:24 pm
by DazedandConfused
I've been following the thread with interest and had registered this evening specifically to post about CH in the early 90s.

I also have no desire to jeopardise the trial but do agree that there is much to discuss after a verdict is reached.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:25 pm
by rockfreak
So sad, the closure. Even in the preliminary stages the evidence was shaping up to sound like some of the worst nightmares of Caitlin Moran.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:44 am
by Chrissie Boy
Shame. And there we all were, on our very best behaviour and choosing our words so very, very carefully. I smells a rat.

Maybe l'école was worried that some of the content would be quoted by the press after the trial ended, adding well-deserved insult to injury. Or perhaps they were contacted by the C of E, who begged them to use their influence to see that the reference to one of the defendants being a man of the cloth was removed.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:52 am
by JohnAL
Frank Macracken was mentioned and is unknown to most readers. He has nothing to do with the current trials, so some background information is permissible I imagine. He was an Australian junior housemaster (Barnes B), with nickname Windy, probably because of an involuntary flatus early on. He taught divinity and French to junior forms and did this with a degree from the University of Melbourne and a very poor French accent.

Once, when on duty in a junior lav end during evening washing he suddenly told the young (handsome, blond) boy in the bath to stand up and face him. “I thought you had something wrong with your stomach,” he added. “You can sit down now, A.” Whether he had comparable haptic practices I don’t know, but I don’t think so.

He had at least one other unusual habit. At the end of term he told all boys in his class to write down their home addresses, without explanation. He visited the home of at least one friend, after writing that he was passing through their town and then received an invitation to tea. The parents were very surprised and found him pleasant. Nothing untoward was ever mentioned by their son.

Macracken was one of those who left unexpectedly at the end of a term. I suppose he was one of the several ‘second-level’ teachers employed during WW2 and in the few years following, when many potential ‘first-level’ male teachers were unavailable. In contrast there was another sort of much rarer, unexpected dismissal in the midst of a term. Such a one was GRG Grice (junior housemaster, Thornton B) a couple of years later.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:56 am
by richardb
Chrissie Boy wrote: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:44 am Shame. And there we all were, on our very best behaviour and choosing our words so very, very carefully. I smells a rat.

Maybe l'école was worried that some of the content would be quoted by the press after the trial ended, adding well-deserved insult to injury.
My experience has been that the police would be asked to "warn off". It carries much more impact.

If a juror was a forum reader he/she should have declared it and I anticipate would not have been allowed to be part of the jury. If one or more jurors have read the forum during the trial, he/she/they have disobeyed the judge's instructions.

Re: The trial of James Andrew Husband and Gary Dobbie

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:58 am
by richardb
JohnAL wrote: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:52 am Frank Macracken was mentioned and is unknown to most readers. He has nothing to do with the current trials, so some background information is permissible I imagine. He was an Australian junior housemaster (Barnes B), with nickname Windy, probably because of an involuntary flatus early on. He taught divinity and French to junior forms and did this with a degree from the University of Melbourne and a very poor French accent.

Once, when on duty in a junior lav end during evening washing he suddenly told the young (handsome, blond) boy in the bath to stand up and face him. “I thought you had something wrong with your stomach,” he added. “You can sit down now, A.” Whether he had comparable haptic practices I don’t know, but I don’t think so.

He had at least one other unusual habit. At the end of term he told all boys in his class to write down their home addresses, without explanation. He visited the home of at least one friend, after writing that he was passing through their town and then received an invitation to tea. The parents were very surprised and found him pleasant. Nothing untoward was ever mentioned by their son.

Macracken was one of those who left unexpectedly at the end of a term. I suppose he was one of the several ‘second-level’ teachers employed during WW2 and in the few years following, when many potential ‘first-level’ male teachers were unavailable. In contrast there was another sort of much rarer, unexpected dismissal in the midst of a term. Such a one was GRG Grice (junior housemaster, Thornton B) a couple of years later.
It was either Newsome or, more probably, Dick Dawe who warned my mother about Mccracken. He was specifically banned from the school.

His habit of turning up uninvited and unannounced resonates. He was obviously moved on.