Head teacher claims trainee planned 'blackmail'

Head teacher Gregory Hill is alleged to have harassed a colleague for almost a year

A head teacher accused of harassing a trainee told a court she had secretly recorded a conversation between them to "blackmail" him.

Gregory Hill, 48, is accused of an 11-month harassment against a 23-year-old colleague and resisting arrest. He denies both charges.

The former head of the Howard Junior School in King's Lynn said in his defence that the allegations against him were all "lies" and he has been "set up".

The court had previously heard Mr Hill pressurised, controlled and isolated the trainee from other members of staff.

'Like a Mills & Boon novel'

She told the court that following a school assembly where Mr Hill implied she was hungover, she secretly recorded a conversation with him.

He said the assembly incident never happened and the recording was “just trying to set me up” as there was money to be made through "blackmail".

Norwich Magistrates' Court had previously heard how contact between Mr Hill and the trainee became more frequent.

In March 2022, Mr Hill messaged saying he had "fallen in love" with her, the court was told

Prosecuting, Monali Raleraskar, read messages sent from the complainant that said "I never had feelings with you, this needs to stop".

Mr Hill , of Fakenham, suggested the prosecution was taking messages out of context and said: “You're reading it like a Mills & Boon novel.”

He denied he held a position of power over trainee teachers at the school, saying his role was more "administrative".

Mr Hill was detained by officers in the car park of his school

Earlier in the day, another teacher who joined the school as a trainee told the court Mr Hill had made inappropriate comments to her in the past.

She said Mr Hill would make comments like “I want your legs wrapped around me” and this made her feel “uncomfortable”.

Under cross examination, she denied making up the allegations.

'I do not accept I resisted arrest'

The court had previously head how the head teacher had lay on the ground and threatened to sue police for hundreds of thousands of pounds as officers arrested him in his school car park on 6 March 2023.

Police body-worn camera footage of the arrest was played in court, in which Mr Hill complained he had been assaulted and could not breathe.

Mr Hill compared the incident to the arrest to George Floyd and said, as a former Norfolk Police PCSO, “I do not accept I resisted arrest”.

He told the court that he had a panic attack and was frightened and thought the arrest was “an onslaught”.

The trial continues.