Female teacher who phoned Childline posing as a 14 year old girl to falsely accuse a male colleague of sexual assault has walked free from court.
Sheena Boll, 35, told the helpline for abused children she was a pupil who had been groped by her teacher at a school for children with special needs. The mother of one, who has a history of making dubious compensation claims, is believed to have targeted the innocent teacher because she was jealous that he was more popular among their colleagues than she was.
She told Childline in March last year that she was a vulnerable girl with special needs and claimed her teacher had grabbed her breast and showered her with unwanted attention, making her feel so uncomfortable that she avoided him at school. But a police investigation to identify the anonymous caller revealed it was Boll.
Detectives spoke to other colleagues at the school in Newham, east London, who contradicted her claims, praising the victim’s quality of teaching and the positive and effective manner in which he interacted with students.
Boll was sacked and arrested in May last year for making the malicious call. It later emerged that she had made several dodgy compensation claims, including a failed one against the officers investigating the Childline call, who she said had broken her phone.
Boll is said to have made a number of complaints of racial discrimination to shops, businesses and police, but often withdrew her accusations after coming to a private cash settlement. Last week at Thames Magistrates’ Court, she received an 11 week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting sending malicious communications. Magistrates also ordered her to carry out 200 hours of community service and made her wear an electronic tag.
Yesterday the victim, who is still working at the school, told how his reputation had been ruined and he became depressed following the groundless accusation.
He said: ‘I found out that an anonymous call had been made to Childline naming me as a paedophile, in that I had groped the breast of a student. I just didn’t know what to do to convince people that I would never do anything like that to a child. The thought sickens and angers me. I felt sick to the stomach and found the whole experience really stressful.
‘I felt like my reputation had been tarnished and I was really distressed and even depressed as a result. I care a lot about what people think of me and I love teaching and making a positive impact on young lives.’
Yesterday, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said it was the first case of its kind the force had encountered. Detective Constable Ben Land said: ‘Cases of false claims like this are rare, but do enormous damage to individuals.
READ: Gwyneth Paltrow's healthy lifestyle is based on clean sleeping
‘This was a calculated attempt to deceive professionals who are committed to safeguarding the most vulnerable children into believing that this hard-working, dedicated and caring colleague in her school was responsible for abuse against one of their pupils.
‘Fortunately Boll’s efforts to mask her true identity were unsuccessful and we have received a positive outcome with the conviction and restoration of the professional reputation of the victim.’