Academy chief ’s legal threat to complaining parents

An academy chief has threatened to sue parents over Facebook comments comparing him to a “dictator” who ran a school like a “prison”.

Solicitors acting for Sir John Townsley, executive principal of the sevenschool Gorse Academies Trust, have issued parents with letters demanding they remove the comments.

In a private Facebook group, one parent said: “They are turning the school into a jail.” The solicitor’s letters also ask for a public apology and financial compensation for Sir John, who earned £193,200 in 2014-15.

Sir John’s solicitors said in a statement: “This is not an attempt to curb freedom of speech.

“The Academy does object to the name of the Facebook site which suggests it has a formal link to the Academy and it does object to comments made that amount to harassment and defamation of senior managers at the Academy.”