RIDGEWAY School used a ‘celebrity’ head as part of its defence into the Henry Webster case – despite her £200,000 fee.

Marie Stubbs, 71, whose inner city headmistress career was dramatised in a film featuring Julie Walters, claimed the fee for writing a 30-page report looking at the Wroughton secondary school’s health and safety rules.

She also appeared for three days at London’s High Court.

The case surrounded Liz Webster’s 18-year-old son Henry who suffered brain damage when he was beaten with a hammer by a group of Asian teenagers on the school’s tennis courts in 2007.

Henry claimed £1 million in compensation after claiming the school failed to protect him from the attack. The family has now been told their insurance may not cover the costs of the six-week trial, which found no evidence that the school could have foreseen or prevented the attack.

Mrs Stubbs, who helped reform St Georges School, in Maida Vale, after its headmaster was stabbed in 1995, was reported to have said: “I must sound a bit naive, but I leave all that stuff (the fee) to my agent. I just tell her the time I spend on things. It was a huge, huge job. There was all the reading of documents and researching, and to distil all that into something that is completely readable is a formidable task.”

Steve Colledge, headteacher of Ridgeway School, said he had no part in hiring Mrs Stubbs, as most of the trial was conducted by the school’s insurance company.

According to the Sunday Times, the Websters also recruited an expert, Gus John – the first black director of education in a UK local council – who charged about £70,000 for his 374-page report Mrs Webster told the Adver yesterday: “I think £200,000 seems an extraordinary amount of money – I wish I was an expert witness.

“I am a novice at this but, having spoken to people about it, Professor John seems to have claimed quite a lot to act as an expert as well. Having said that, he did produce a huge report.”

The article also said that the trial judge, Mr Justice Nicol said his judgment was “not greatly assisted” by either of Lady Stubbs or Prof John.

The court fees owed by the family are estimated at £800,000.

Mrs Webster said that should the two sides not agree on the sum, the fees would have to be reviewed by a judge to decide what is “fair and reasonable”.

The family will have to pay the difference should the final sum exceed their insurance cover.