FETTES PUPIL EXPELLED FOR SPEAKING OUT OVER DRUGS

A PUPIL at the Prime Minister's former school has been expelled after
talking to the press about drug-taking among fellow students.

The 17-year-old girl was asked to leave Fettes College yesterday after she
had spoken out about drug use in dormitories and outside the grounds.

The expulsion came in the same week a 17-year-old boy was expelled for
taking cannabis and two other boys, aged 18 and 17 were thrown out after
being caught with the drug. Michael Spens, the headmaster, said the girl
had been asked to leave for breaching rules of confidentiality.

He added: "This leaking of names and other personal details of fellow
pupils constitutes a gross breach of trust and behaviour towards fellow
pupils that is nothing short of reprehensible.

"These actions compounded the distress of pupils and their families, who
had already suffered enough personal tragedy through their own actions."
Guy Thomas, 17, who was thrown out after testing positive for cannabis,
said yesterday he should be given another chance because he took the drug
outside school.

He said: "I do not see why something I did in the holidays affects
something I do at school. I do all the work and everything. What I do on my
own time should not exclude me."

The school did not identify any of the pupils, but two other boys, expelled
after being caught with cannabis at a sixth-year disco at the weekend, have
been named as David Simpson junior, 18, the son of a computer tycoon, and
Ruaridh Osborne, 17. David's father, Dr David Simpson, was a pioneer of
Silicon Glen and was made a CBE for services to the electronics industry.

He heads Simpson Research Ltd, Tranent, East Lothian.

Last month it was revealed Prince Harry, a pupil at Eton, had been caught
smoking cannabis, but the school did not expel him because the offences did
not happen during term time. Guy Thomas moved to the £11,000-a-year Fettes
College from Millfield private school in Somerset last summer and said he
had enjoyed his first term and had never studied harder.

But after a drinking session during a school trip to Belgium last week he
was asked to take a drugs test, which proved positive, and he was expelled.

He claimed lots of pupils take drugs close to their dormitories without
getting caught - although the school had denied many students are involved.

Mr Spens rejected the suggestion cannabis use was widespread. He said: "I
would certainly acknowledge that there will be others within the school who
have used it and may still be using it and if that comes to our attention,
they will be punished."

The headmaster has admitted he is considering introducing random drug testing .