Dunstable school suspends teacher over Bin Laden image

The "totally inappropriate" image was used in a lesson at All Saints Academy - a state secondary school in Dunstable

A teacher has been suspended after using a picture of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden in an attempt to portray the Prophet Muhammad in a Religious Studies lesson.

All Saints Academy in Dunstable said it recognised the "deep hurt and distress" caused to Muslims by the use of a "totally inappropriate" image.

The Church of England school issued an "unreserved and sincere apology".

It added there would be a "detailed and swift investigation".

For most Muslims, Muhammad, or any of the other prophets of Islam, should not be pictured in any way.

The image of Bin Laden, the former al-Qaeda leader who was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011, was used in a Year 10 class on Friday.

A statement on the academy's website said: "Not only was it offensive to attempt to portray an image of the Prophet Muhammad, but the image that was used was that of Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist leader, which further added to the deep insult.

"The Academy reiterates its unreserved and sincere apology for the distress this episode has caused."

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The school said that after it was alerted by a "concerned student", the member of staff was "immediately suspended by the principal pending a detailed and swift investigation which will follow the academy's disciplinary procedures".

"It would be against the terms of that procedure either to identify the individual concerned or to comment any further until the final outcome is determined," the school said.

It added it was also going to commission a "wider review", conducted by someone with no connection to the school, to "determine how this individual came to act in such an inappropriate and upsetting way".

"Having now established very useful links with members of the Muslim community in [neighbouring] Luton, we would hope to work together to gain a better understanding of religious and cultural matters that impact on all our lives and will help us to be better educators," the school said.

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