Today, three senior staff of Carenne Special School - Neil Moon (Principal), Lee Churches (Assistant Principal) and Terry Neal (Assistant Principal) had criminal charges mentioned before the Bathurst Local Court. A Carenne Gate reporter was on hand as the matter was mentioned.The trio are charged with taking detrimental action against a whistleblower under whistleblower protection legislation and were bought to court by a private prosecutor, Nathan Carter. Mr Carter's solicitor Tim Cain told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions has been approached to take over the prosecutions.
The three defendants, none of which appeared in court were represented by Shane Cunningham. Mr Cunningham told the court that they have applied for representation by the Crown Solicitor's Office.
Magistrate Jan Stevenson told the court that she had never heard a matter like this before and was unsure on whether the local court is the correct jurisdiction for it. Magistrate Stevenson said as some matters were referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption there may be issues as the local court can not see documents from the commission.
The matter has been adjourned until 10 May 2010.
Photograph: Terry Neal (top), Lee Churches (centre) and Neil Moon (bottom). Used under fair use guidelines.
