AN interesting week news-wise as far as the hammer attack trial is concerned.
Last week we saw verdicts handed down from the second trial at Bristol Crown Court following the brutal playground assault on Ridgeway School pupil Henry Webster.
Sentence will be passed on those convicted from the two trials in a month, but possibly the story which might have taken many Adver readers by surprise was the report on how poor security is at the Wroughton School some 15 months after the incident.
One of our reporters was freely able to wander about the school, through a dance class in the main hall and to a classroom where one of the teachers asked a pupil to take my reporter to reception.
This was a story we thought long and hard about; whether it was right to test the security, since we had been made aware of loopholes which did exist at Wroughton, and also how we went about it.
I made it clear to the reporter that there was to be no subterfuge. That if he was stopped and asked for his identity he was to give it, and then take the letter which he had been given to be presented to the headmaster.
The reporter wandered freely, took pictures using a mobile phone, even sat in a chemistry laboratory alone where he called the office asking how long he should stick around.
Were we justified in doing this? Absolutely. Can any lessons be learned from this? I would hope so. I would hope the headmaster and governors take on board the lessons learned and complete the security measures they had talked about putting in place as far back as May last year.
One question was asked why didn’t we test the security at other Swindon schools? The reason was that it was pertinent to test Ridgeway since here was a school which had been the focus of not just one attack on Henry Webster in January 2007, but the previous summer term there had been a number of incidents at the school.
It was relevant because security was discussed; the building of a fence, the installation of security key pads. The fence was built, the key pads were never fitted.
We gave the school a week’s notice of our intention to publish the story. We gave them; the headteacher and governors, full opportunity to comment. We also gave them time to put in any extra security measures they considered fit before the resumption of term in a week or so’s time.
As for other Swindon schools’ security. Who knows? Maybe we will test their security at another time, but we will do so not in the hope of finding flaws, but more of seeing security which is in place which guarantees the safety of our children.

Many thanks for the positive comments in the wake of my previous blog. While the negative comments are always in the minority, I feel it is only fair to address them. I would never expect consensus, I know our readers will take us to task if we get things wrong, however I do get annoyed with senseless, small-minded comments, which don’t serve to fuel debate.