Bullying claim by school's teacher

FRESH claims of "Trojan Horse" style bullying have arisen after a second Oldham headteacher said he suffered a "campaign of harassment".

Just a week after Trish O'Donnell, of Clarksfield Primary, claimed she was forced out of her job by "intimidation", Rick Hodge, who was due to be principal to the Phoenix Free School in Oldham, told the Sunday Times he also suffered a "campaign of harassment" by the school's Muslim co-founder.

Phoenix Free School was based on the idea of having former Armed Forces servicemen and women teaching children in the town, which was hit by race riots in 2001.

But the school failed to open after not enough children applied and Mr Hodge left as principal designate in 2013.

Mr Hodge has now told the Sunday Times that he was harassed at the hands of Affan Burki, a former British Army Officer who tried to set up the school.

The paper reported that nearly all of the school's governors were Muslim, despite the intake being aimed at an even split between white and Asian pupils.

Mr Hodge, a former pilot who was principal designate of the project, claimed there was a row over the dress code set for women staff at the school.

He said another man connected with the school "went completely off on one about how not wearing a hijab would effectively turn all Muslim women into whores".

Mr Burki is reported to have denied any bullying of Mr Hodge and said the claims about the hijab row were invented.

Speaking to the MailOnline, he said: "I am a retired British Army officer. I have served in Afghanistan and fought against these people who would harm us. This was the opposition of a Trojan Horse school. We were trying to install British values into pupils."

He said Mr Hodge left the school after it failed to obtain a reference from his previous place of work.

Oldham Council said it had investigated the Trojan Horse claims made in December but concluded it had no concerns about any schools.