>Teacher sacked after criticising ‘two-tier justice’ in Lucy Connolly case
>In a post on social media, Simon Pearson, 56, who teaches at Preston College said Connolly’s online comments were “obviously wrong” but she “should not have been jailed”.
>But he was dismissed after an internal investigation, prompted by a complaint from a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the college, found his online posts had the potential to bring it into disrepute.
>In another Facebook post, he discussed the Manchester Airport court case, writing:
>After Mr Pearson made the posts on social media, a Muslim representative of the NEU at Preston College submitted a formal complaint to the college, alleging that the Facebook posts were “Islamophobic” and “racially discriminatory”.
>Preston College bosses then launched an investigation. Mr Pearson apologised if he had offended anyone, and says he provided extensive evidence of his support for Muslim students and asylum seekers during this process.
>But the investigation concluded that the posts violated Preston College policies, damaged professional relationships, and had the potential to bring the college into disrepute.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/03/teacher-sacked-preston-college-two-tier-lucy-connolly/