Bernard Randall vs Trent College
The Reverend Dr Bernard Randall was sacked by Trent College (independent school) and reported to the ‘Prevent’ anti-terrorism programme for defending pupils’ rights to question the introduction of new LGBT policies. Dr Randall has taken Trent College to an employment tribunal.
Much of the Tribunal has involved discussions of a sermon that Dr. Randall gave to two different groups of students in chapel. The text of the sermon has been published on line by Christian Concern in May 2021. We did not observe the actual sermon and it has not been recorded so we cannot comment on what was said. However, the published text has stood since May 2021. The link is here:
A school sermon by Bernard Randall: Competing ideologies
Status
The tribunal rejected all of the claim made by Fr Randall. Randall has announced that he will appeal the decision. Copy of the decision is here.
All evidence has concluded as of 22 September 2022. Submissions will be in writing and are due to be exchanged and provided to the Tribunal in 28 days, with a further week for any written responses if required. Judges will look for dates for deliberation, estimated to take 3 days, after that.
Abbreviations
BR - Bernard Randall
TC - Trent College
RO - Richard O’Dair, barrister for BR
PW - Paul Wilson, barrister for TC
EJ - Employment Judge
Panel - other members of the tribunal
E&C - Educate & Celebrate, providers of diversity and inclusion training to schools, also an ‘awards scheme’ for participating schools.
PC - Protected Characteristic
WS - Witness Statement
C - Claimant
D - Defendant
CofE - Chuch of England
JH - Jeremy Hallows - TC employee
MD - Morag Dakin - TC employee, HR manager
EB - Ellie Barnes - E&C employee
NF- Nicola Fenton - TC Board member
JR - Justine Rimington - Safeguarding at Trent College
CK - Chris Kelly, Trent College
FP - Faith Potter, head of the Elms, the junior school affiliated with Trent College
WP - W J Penty - Head of Trent College
DE - Deborah Evans, Chair of Board of Governors Jan 2020 to date
NF - Neil Finlay, Governor
DB - Darren Brumby, Deputy Head Academic
JG - James Gregory, TC, director of operations
Tweet threads
There was a morning session on 7 September which was procedural in nature. We were granted access only after BR began giving evidence in the afternoon. Estimated that we missed approximately 20-25 minutes of the tribunal. There may be errors and imprecise dates and names as a result.
7 September 2022 Afternoon session - testimony of Bernard Randall, examination by Paul Wilson for Trent College.
8 September 2022 Morning session - further testimony of Bernard Randall, examination by Paul Wilson for Trent College
8 September 2022 Afternoon session - further testimony of Bernard Randall, examination by Paul Wilson for Trent College
9 September 2022 Morning session - further testimony of Bernard Randall, examination by Paul Wilson for Trent College
9 September 2022 Afternoon session - further testimony of Bernard Randall, examination by Paul Wilson for Trent College
12 September 2022 Morning session - further testimony of Bernard Randall, examination by Paul Wilson for Trent College
12 September 2022 Afternoon session - testimony of Bernard Randall concludes.
13 September 2022 Morning session - testimony of Jeremy Hallows of Trent College.
13 September 2022 Afternoon session - testimony of Jeremy Hallows of Trent College.
14 September 2022 Morning session, Part 1
14 September 2022 Morning Session, Part 2
The morning tweets contain a recurring typo: Richard O’Dair, barrister for Bernard Randall is abbreviated as DO. Apologies.
14 September 2022 Afternoon Session, - testimony of Justine Rimington of Trent College.
15 September 2022 Morning session - testimony of Justine Rimington of Trent College concludes.
15 September 2022 Afternoon session - testimony of Chris Kelly, head of school LGBT group and Faith Potter, head of the Elms and the investigator of complaints against BR.
16 September 2022 Morning session - testimony of WJ Penty, head master of Trent College
16 September 2022 Afternoon session - further testimony of WJ Penty, head master of Trent College
20 September 2022 morning session - further testimony of WJ Penty, head master of Trent College
20 September 2022 afternoon session - further testimony of WJ Penty, head master of Trent College
21 September 2022 morning session - conclusion of testimony from WJ Penty, testimony from Deborah Evans (current chair of governors) and Neil Finlay, governor
21 September 2022 afternoon session - testimony from Neil Finlay and Darren Brumby, deputy head pastoral
22 September 2022 morning session - testimony from Morag Daikin, TC HR, and James Gregory, TC director of operations.
Press coverage
This section includes links to a selection of press coverage, that may include blogs, videos and interviews about the case. These links are included without comment and are not endorsed by Tribunal Tweets. This is a sample of coverage only - it is not comprehensive. Please DM our main Twitter account to submit coverage from an established news outlet. Any paywalled article must be archived.
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On 17th March 2023, The Telegraph revealed that Educate & Celebrate 'pretended to be Ofsted endorsed'. Further coverage will be on our Educate & Celebrate press coverage page.
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1 March 2023
Church Times - Former school chaplain loses appeal for unfair dismissal from C of E college
28 Feb 2023
The Critic -My fight for free speech goes on
Nottingham Live - Chaplain who was reported to anti-terrorism programme loses unfair dismissal claim
27 Feb 2023
Christian Today - Sacked chaplain to appeal after losing employment tribunal case
BBC - School chaplain loses unfair dismissal case over LGBT sermon
Derby Telegraph - 'Blow for free speech'? Chaplain at Trent College in Long Eaton upset by LGBT training loses unfair dismissal claim
26 Feb 2023
[VIDEO] GB News - School chaplain lose dismissal case for telling pupils it was OK to disagree with LGBT ideology
25 Feb 2023
23 Feb 2023
Christian Concern - Tribunal to scrutinise bishop over blacklisting chaplain as ‘terrorist’
25 Nov 2022
[PODCAST] Genspect: a wider lens - The Freedom to Believe or Not To with Rev. Bernard Randall
14th Sept 2022
BBC - School chaplain's LGBT sermon angered teachers
13th Sept 2022
11th Sept 2022
Pink News - School chaplain told kids as young as 11 that they don’t have to accept ‘LGBT stuff’
10th Sept 2022
BBC - School chaplain told pupils 'you don't have to accept LGBT stuff’
8th Sept 2022
DerbyshireLive - Chaplain at Derbyshire school upset at LGBTQ training
7th Sept 2022
BBC - Chaplain 'unfairly dismissed' over LGBT concerns, tribunal hears
4th Sept 2022
Daily Mail - You are a danger to children, Church of England tells school chaplain
8th Dec 2021
VIDEO: Christian Concern - 'My story of persecution...'
18th August 2021
VIDEO: The Heritage Foundation - 'Fired over a sermon'
July 3rd 2021
VIDEO: Free Speech Nation, GB News -'Cancelled chaplain'
14th May 2021
VIDEO: The New Culture Forum - Chaplain reported to Terrorism watchdog for LGBT+ sermon
12th May 2021
VIDEO: Michael Knowles - Labelled a terrorist for preaching
Christian Concern - Why does Educate and Celebrate want to ‘smash heteronormativity’
11th May 2021
VIDEO: Talk TV - Chaplain explains why he defended pupils right to question LGBT policies