Release of Roger Martin
Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 10:34 am
Just to advise that Roger Martin is due for release on 4th July 2021 and as this falls on a weekend he will be released on Friday 2nd July 2021. He will be under restrictions and has been placed on the Sexual Offenders Register. I should say that many consider the SOR a rather useless tool as there is still no formal Statutory requirement for organisations/societies/clubs etc. to refer to it and this applies, also, to a DBS (formerly CRB) check. The Dept. of Education does require schools to undertake the check but for employees. Some do check on non-employed persons who undertake recreational activities but not all.
Whilst many feel that Martin was a good teacher it does depend on whether you just look at his ‘teaching abilities’ or whether you look at his responsibilities with regards to a duty of care for those in his charge. Given the details within the court case that I attended, I would say that he had a continued tendency throughout his time at the school to hold an ‘unhealthy’ interest in young boys. Whilst he has been convicted based on one case alone, I am able to confirm that there was an almost identical incident with another pupil which was disallowed as evidence in the court case as too prejudicial against Martin’s defence – it was so similar that if the Jury had heard it they would have found him guilty regardless of the facts. There was a further ‘letter of bad Character’ also disallowed which would have been a ‘nail in his coffin’ concerning the holding of slides of naked boys and their genitals until 2009.
Martin was, and probably still is, a very intelligent man but that does not make him a ‘good teacher’ as teaching requires far more than just talking on the subject being discussed. His great work on the history of Starehe in Kenya (the CH of East Africa and part of the exceptionally dubious Round Square group of schools) fails to detail the massive sexual and corporal abuse that occurred at that school which finally forced UNESCO to advise the Kenyan Government to curtail all Corporal punishment in their schools or lose UN funding. Martin was part of that regime and, along with the founder of the school, objected to this even though he had returned to CH.
In my consideration, he is a very manipulative individual – certainly his attempt to confuse the Jury with regards to the cine filming of naked boys jumping in and out of the bath in the ‘lav end’ was detailed and clever, even if it did not work for him – he managed to describe 3 types of lav end from his time as boy at the school (early 50’s), his time as a master in Prep and his time as a master in Barnes.
All of this, along with the fact that he was convicted, does not make Martin a ‘good teacher’ – it makes him a perverse and bad teacher. Perhaps those who feel he was ‘a good teacher’ might like to consider the lifetime consequences of his activities not just concerning the victim in the court case, but to others who have decided not to come forward. If ‘good teaching’ allows for abuse of those being taught and cared for, then those proposing that should seriously look at their view of a society where that is acceptable.
Roger Martin was a disgrace to the teaching profession, a disgrace to society and a disgrace to his own life – he was not a good teacher – he was a pervert. He may now enjoy his retirement: his victim(s) will continue to live with the consequences of what he did as both a teacher and sexual abuser.
Rob
Whilst many feel that Martin was a good teacher it does depend on whether you just look at his ‘teaching abilities’ or whether you look at his responsibilities with regards to a duty of care for those in his charge. Given the details within the court case that I attended, I would say that he had a continued tendency throughout his time at the school to hold an ‘unhealthy’ interest in young boys. Whilst he has been convicted based on one case alone, I am able to confirm that there was an almost identical incident with another pupil which was disallowed as evidence in the court case as too prejudicial against Martin’s defence – it was so similar that if the Jury had heard it they would have found him guilty regardless of the facts. There was a further ‘letter of bad Character’ also disallowed which would have been a ‘nail in his coffin’ concerning the holding of slides of naked boys and their genitals until 2009.
Martin was, and probably still is, a very intelligent man but that does not make him a ‘good teacher’ as teaching requires far more than just talking on the subject being discussed. His great work on the history of Starehe in Kenya (the CH of East Africa and part of the exceptionally dubious Round Square group of schools) fails to detail the massive sexual and corporal abuse that occurred at that school which finally forced UNESCO to advise the Kenyan Government to curtail all Corporal punishment in their schools or lose UN funding. Martin was part of that regime and, along with the founder of the school, objected to this even though he had returned to CH.
In my consideration, he is a very manipulative individual – certainly his attempt to confuse the Jury with regards to the cine filming of naked boys jumping in and out of the bath in the ‘lav end’ was detailed and clever, even if it did not work for him – he managed to describe 3 types of lav end from his time as boy at the school (early 50’s), his time as a master in Prep and his time as a master in Barnes.
All of this, along with the fact that he was convicted, does not make Martin a ‘good teacher’ – it makes him a perverse and bad teacher. Perhaps those who feel he was ‘a good teacher’ might like to consider the lifetime consequences of his activities not just concerning the victim in the court case, but to others who have decided not to come forward. If ‘good teaching’ allows for abuse of those being taught and cared for, then those proposing that should seriously look at their view of a society where that is acceptable.
Roger Martin was a disgrace to the teaching profession, a disgrace to society and a disgrace to his own life – he was not a good teacher – he was a pervert. He may now enjoy his retirement: his victim(s) will continue to live with the consequences of what he did as both a teacher and sexual abuser.
Rob