A SCHOOL'S appeal committee has been criticised for the way it handled the expulsion of a student alleged to have been found in possession of drugs.

A SCHOOL'S appeal committee has been criticised for the way it handled the expulsion of a student alleged to have been found in possession of drugs.

Local Government Ombudsman Jerry White found the appeal committee of Chalfonts Community College, Chalfont St Peter, guilty of maladministration and causing injustice.

The investigation was launched on June 10 last year following an appeal by the boy's parents.

The 14-year-old was allegedly found in possession of drugs after being given a packet by another pupil during a Sunday football match and told he could make money from it.

Despite his efforts to return the packet, the boy was seen with it and questioned by a senior teacher, acting on information from two younger pupils.

The boy admitted what had happened and was permanently excluded by the then principal on March 10 last year, the decision being upheld by the governors' discipline committee and subsequently by the school appeal committee.

The following month, the parents appealed to the Ombudsman, whose investigation concluded that the committee had relied too heavily on hearsay evidence and incorrect information, allowed its decision to be fettered by an unequivocal school drugs policy, and failed to correct the situation when it was made aware of the true facts. Mr White said: 'The fact that the clerk acted for both the governors' discipline committee and the independent appeal committee amounts to maladministration.'

He recommended that the school governing body should pay £750 to the boy's parents for the injustice suffered by them and their son.

In a statement, the college said: 'The college has a strict policy to exclude students found to be taking drugs or in possession of them. The Local Government Ombudsman decided that the college's decision to exclude the student had led to injustice. The college takes seriously any complaint against it and has carefully considered the contents of the Ombudsman's report. The college will comply with its finding to save any further distress to the family concerned.'