Educaring, Part 3

Dear Ben,

A voice from the past! Yes, of course I remember you, a nice ginger-haired boy. Weren’t you one of my ace reporters for “The Windlesham Weekly”? Or maybe were you a keen robot-builder?

Like you, I was absolutely shocked by Michael Green’s crimes. I just could not believe it. In some ways, I still find it very hard to comprehend that he really is a criminal and he did dreadful things during the time when I was teaching at Windlesham. No one ever said a word to me about “Greenie” that suggested that he was doing what he did. The Maldens, especially Elizabeth-Anne, seemed to think that he was wonderful. Lots of parents even invited Greenie to their homes! My friend Peter was teaching at Windlesham longer than I was and he was the person who told me about how Green was put on trial and ended up in prison.

As I understand it, Green has been given two long prison sentences and therefore it is very likely that he will die in prison. As he pleaded his innocence at his trials, it seems probable that he will not be given parole. My guess is that perverts like him are not treated kindly by the other prisoners. Even if he were to get out of prison, Green would be on the Police’s list of sex offenders and he would be under some sort of surveillance. Well, I am not a lawyer, but that is my understanding of the situation.

If you know anything about any other crimes that Green has committed, any for which he has not already been punished, then I suppose that you might feel that it is your duty to tell the Police. On the other hand, it does look as though he will never get out of prison, so you might decide not to bother. Yes, quite a few of his victims have already told the Police. However, if some of those whom he molested have not come forward, then my guess is that the Police and the judge have already guessed that there might be other offences. No doubt this was taken into account on each occasion that he was sent to prison. Perhaps it would be the right thing to keep quiet. If someone else wants to go to the Police, well, that is his decision. 

Yes, I do think that sex criminals deserve their full punishment, but I am sure that the school would not want yet another trial. These things happened more than thirty years ago. Michael Green must be in his 80s now, if he is still alive, so I do not see how there would be any benefit in prosecuting him for a third time.

I think that I knew Colin Dickenson quite well and I cannot believe that he was in some way covering up for Michael Green. I think that, like me and many other people, Colin might have been a poor judge of character. Colin left Windlesham because he had cancer, not for any other reason. Colin was an honest person and he always said what he really thought. Charles Malden and E.A. respected him for this, even though sometimes he publicly disagreed with them.

I remember Cecily Eastwood as a pretty, kind and sweet-natured girl. Her death must have been awful for her parents.      

After Windlesham, I was teaching in one or two other schools in the UK and then I went overseas, mostly the Middle East and then finally China. Now I am married to a Russian lady and we live in Bulgaria. Well, you can read about some of my misadventures in my blog! 

What about you? Where did you go after Windlesham? I hope that you found a nice girl and got married. It is also wonderful to have a good career, a profession that gives you satisfaction. (The great secret of life is to find something that you enjoy doing and then find some silly person who will pay you to do it.) Well, I really enjoyed teaching and being retired is much less stressful, but sometimes a bit dull.

Best wishes from Bulgaria,

Your old teacher,

Simon Hill