Mother threatens to sue over teacher who called her son ‘monkey’ in front of class

Bullying claims: Shantelle Addison, left with her son Raheem

A mother is threatening legal action after a teacher labelled her black 13-year-old son “a monkey” in front of classmates.

Shantelle Addison, 36, claims son Raheem was “humiliated” by science teacher Marcel van den Heuvel at Twickenham Academy. She made a formal complaint against him to the school as well as contacting police, who arrested and questioned him.

But Crown Prosecution Service lawyers decided there would not be a realistic prospect of conviction and the case was dropped.

A school disciplinary panel last November then ruled the teacher, who resigned last week, should apologise to Mrs Addison and her son. She says this never happened and she was “appalled” at how the school handled her complaint. Mrs Addison, who runs a jewellery company, said the incident in February last year led to Raheem’s grades dropping significantly and he had to have counselling.

She added: “This has impacted on Raheem greatly and I will be escalating my complaint to the Department for Education and I’m currently seeking legal advice.

“This sort of thing should not be taking place in the 21st century. My son has become withdrawn and now has no trust in teachers.” Mrs Addison said “racial bullying” occurred when her son, now 14, showed his teacher his black winter gloves, which Mr van den Heuvel apparently said made him “look like a monkey”.

“Raheem told me the whole class was shocked by the remarks by the teacher, who found it funny and later laughed about the incident with another teacher. I also spoke to parents of pupils in my son’s class and they were outraged.” She contacted police, who confirmed “a 53-year-old man was arrested in connection with an allegation of racist abuse.”

Mrs Addison requested a review of the CPS decision not to prosecute, and in a letter last October was told by one of its lawyers that although Mr van den Heuvel accepted telling Raheem “you look like a monkey with gloves on”, he “stated he did not have a clue that a monkey was in any way a racist word”.

The lawyer added that the teacher’s language showed “naivety and lack of judgment” but it was not clear if he meant “hostility to your son based on his ethnic or national origin.”

Twickenham Academy principal Tracy Ward said the allegations were “thoroughly investigated immediately and the teacher is no longer with us”.The school said it does “not tolerate racist or any other form of discrimination.” Mr van den Heuvel declined to comment.

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