Teachers suspended for tying up pupil with electric cable

Two teachers at a city academy have been suspended for tying up a vulnerable boy during a lesson.

The 16-year-old, who has a heart defect, was said to have then been mocked for five minutes after being bound with electrical cable.

Police and social services are investigating the incident at the £38 million Folkestone Academy in Kent.

Parents were alerted after seeing mobile phone footage taken by pupils.

During the film, taken on 6 December, a voice - said to be that of a teacher - can be heard taunting the boy, saying: "Give us a shout when you are ready to start grovelling."

The boy was eventually freed by another teacher.

A source at the school said: "It was like something you would expect at Guantanamo Bay or in an al Qaeda video - not in a school. The lad involved is an easy target for bullies and he takes more than his fair share of stick.

"The school has made a lot of noise about being tough on bullies and raising standards and this kind of thing just makes a mockery of that."

The sixth-former did not want to discuss the incident during an engineering class but a family friend said: "He's taken the whole thing really badly. It's shaken him up terribly.

"His parents have been really pushing for action to be taken on this, but he just wants the whole thing to go away as he fears being bullied even more." The teachers were suspended by principal John Patterson, whose 1,000 pupil school is part funded by billionaire former Saga chief Roger de Haan.

Mr Patterson said today: "Although this incident may have been intended to be good humoured, the academy sees the alleged behaviour as totally inappropriate and unacceptable within a school. We have suspended the two staff involved while the matter is investigated and have referred the incident to the police and social services.

"We understand that, after their initial investigations, the joint team do not intend to take the matter any further, neither do the boy concerned nor his parents wish to dwell further on the matter."

More than 100 pupils were excluded in three weeks when the school opened in September.

The academy, which has the motto "proving excellence for pupils of all abilities", describes itself as a centre of arts, media and culture and its futuristic building was designed by Sir Norman Foster.

A spokesman for Kent Police said an investigation was under way.