Two brothers aged 12 and 15 have applied to the High Court for an order revoking their suspension and expulsion respectively from their school over an incident last month in which another pupil, a teenage girl, was allegedly supplied with cannabis and came home at 1 a.m. either intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan heard the older boy had been suspended before after he admitted providing cannabis for a joint which was shared among 10 other pupils in an incident last September. It was also alleged the younger boy had smoked cannabis and he, too, was suspended, but for a shorter period.
Following that incident, the older boy gave a written undertaking to the school that he would not be involved in drug use.
Both boys have denied involvement in last month's incident and claim fair procedures were not followed by the school in investigating the incident and acting against them. The school claims it was entitled to act as it did.
The disciplinary action against the two boys arose after the teenage girl's mother complained to gardai when her daughter came home in an intoxicated state or under the influence of drugs early last February 4th.
The court was told the girl at first alleged she got cannabis from the 15-year-old but later said she got it from the 12-yearold after approaching him on the school football pitch. It was also said she had borrowed £60 to buy cannabis but later admitted stealing it. The school board of management subsequently decided unanimously in favour of the expulsion and suspension.
The brothers are seeking an interim injunction restraining their suspension and expulsion pending the outcome of proceedings taken by them against the school. Mr Justice O'Sullivan will give his decision today.
Yesterday Mr Paul Walshe SC, for the brothers, said they were alleging there was insufficient evidence before the board to justify its decision to suspend the younger boy for two months and expel his older brother. After the girl had alleged she received cannabis from the older boy, gardai called to the brothers' home and were satisfied after talking to the older boy that he had not supplied the drug; he had been out of school for the three days previously.
The girl then "changed her story" and said she got the cannabis from the younger brother. He said she approached him and they may have drifted apart from other pupils for a time but denied that he gave her cannabis. He was "pestered" by the girl to such an extent he had changed the number on his mobile phone.
The board's decision was based on a flawed summary of evidence given by the school headmaster, he said. There should have been a written note of the headmaster's investigation which should have been given to the brothers before any action taken against them. They should also have been given an opportunity to confront their accuser.
Mr Tom Mallon for the school said it had indicated when taking the decision to expel and suspend the brothers that it would help find another school for them, and that was still the position.
He said the school took a serious view of the matter. It believed that in the February incident the older boy had located cannabis which was then brought to school by his younger brother and taken by pupils.
Mr Mallon said he accepted the brothers had denied involvement in anything other than the Sept
ember incident. He said the headmaster had interviewed all pupils named by the girl as present at the February incident and he was the appropriate person to investigate the matter.
While it might have been preferable if there was a written note of the interviews with the pupils, there was no obligation on a school to provide the same type of rights as in a court. The boy's parents had had their say to the board before the disciplinary measures were taken.