|
 Showing:
UK - BBC2 |Tuesday 6 June 9.00pm
Pauline
Quirke stars as The Thieving Headmistress in BBC Two's incredible
drama-documentary.
In 1991,
Colleen McCabe was appointed headmistress of St John Rigby School in
West Wickham, Bromley. The home economics teacher appeared to be the
perfect candidate for the job; she had left her former calling as a nun
to join the teaching profession and impressed the Catholic college.
But when the
school became responsible for its annual £3m budget, McCabe's interest
in image took over. Before long, McCabe had leased a grand Tudor-style
building that adjoined the school where she had a large office with
antique oak desks. She kept her clique of key administrative staff close
to her and provided them with "company" cars – and one for
herself.
McCabe
replaced many of the senior staff with newly qualified teachers on
starter salaries, freeing up the budget for her own indulgences. Her
personal fraud began when she acquired a corporate credit card for the
school. When her case was brought to court, McCabe was accused of
spending an estimated £258,000 between 1994 and 1999 on the credit card
– with over £7,000 on shoes alone.
Meanwhile,
back at school, teachers were ordered to clean their own classrooms, the
library was half empty - and when the boiler broke one winter, the
students had to sit through lessons in their coats to keep warm. |
