18/06/02 YORK VISION
NEWS 3
York history lecturer on bail after police arrest Rod Hills sacked from council
Tim Smithard CAMPUS has been left reeling after popular history lecturer and leader of York Council, Rod Hills, was sensationally suspended from the council and arrested on what currently remain unknown charges. He has now been removed from the History department staff list on the University’s website. The scandal has been shrouded in secrecy from the outset. Originally Rod Hills, 55, was believed to have been the subject of a smear campaign. Personal photos of Hills and his recently deceased wife, Carol Wallace, has apparently been distributed in his Clifton ward. Walllace had been a lecturer in the University’s linguistics department. Vision is not allowed to reveal the nature of the photographs. Hills took out a court injunction against two men to prevent any further distribution of the photos. One of the men, Kevin Young of Clifton, has now issued a counterclaim for £150,000 in damages from Hills at Leeds Crown Court, citing “distress caused and injustices”.
SACKED: Rod Hills
Young had made a photocopy of the images after they came into his possession, and made a complaint to a council officer. A new twist in the tale came on April 11 with a police raid on Rod Hills’ Huntington Road home. It is unclear as to whether there was a similar raid on his office in Vanbrugh College. Hills was not, however, arrested until May 29. Police have not yet released any details of the charges, but it has been alleged that they concern
photos and other items found in the raids. Also arrested was Rod Hills’ current fiancée, Fay Simpson, a 31-year-old alcoholic former prostitute, mother of five, and reformed heroin addict. In a further twist, it was later revealed that she had herself been arrested in relation to a burglary at Rod Hills’ house. She told reporters that the police had seized pictures of her featuring “kinky but not illegal” bondage sex. As Vision went to press, Hills had just been fired from his position as Leader of York City Council. He has also been suspended from the national Labour Party until he manages to clears his name. Rod Hills has stated that “I have stood down as leader of the Council to clear my name of these malicious allegations. ‘‘I wish to make it clear that I have not been charged with any criminal offence. I am very happy to help the police with their inquiries, as this is the quickest and effective way of clearing my name from the scurrilous accusations that have been made.” Members of the University are remaining tight-lipped as to Hills’ future. Allen Warren, head of History, gave Vision a terse ‘no comment’ when contacted. University spokesperson Hilary Layton stated: “We don’t have any statement to give. It would be inappropriate to say anything at all about it.” At present though, Hills continues to teach a first year course on ‘The
Assault on night of Tyson KO Rob Harris A student was rushed to hospital in the early hours of last Sunday after been violently attacked outside Derwent College He was assaulted at 5:15am on June 9 after watching Lennox Lewis defeat Mike Tyson on the big screen in the Derwent JCR. According to a spokesman for North Yorkshire police, a group of males approached the student and hit him on the head, resulting in a lengthy
stay at York District Hospital. A man was arrested in connection with the incident, but has been released on bail as police inquiries continue. Ken Batten, Head of Security, told Vision: “It’s a very unusual incident, but I don’t know what the motive of the attack was.” Concerns have been raised about whether Derwent should have shown the fight. SU Education and Welfare Officer, Jenna Khalfan believes that the
WATCHING BRIEF: Students gather in Derwent JCR for the big fight PHOTO: ROB HARRIS
screening of the fight could have led to the attack. “The boxing may well have triggered the attack since it encourages macho behaviour. ‘‘I disagree fundamentally with the sport.” But she conceded that it is difficult to stop boxing being shown on campus, since “people will watch it whatever happens”. However, Derwent chair Rick Guest defended his decision to put the fight on, and ruled out any connection with the assault. ‘‘There is no doubt in my mind that we should have shown the fight. 250 people turned up to watch it and it was another great success for the JCRC. ‘‘We were the only college on campus showing it and I think we made an excellent decision.” ‘‘In no way do we condone such behaviour and we hope the perpetrators are disciplined by whichever authority.” A police spokesman reassured students that York is a safe campus and that students shouldn’t be worried. “It’s not the kind of environment where people should feel prisoners in their rooms,” he told Vision.
APPALED: Jen taken by surprise
Turn the fire alarm off . . . Jen hasn’t finished her hair Catherine Milner THIS IS Jennifer. She is one of a group of angry students who have regularly been forced to flee dripping to a neighbours’ house as their shower systems set off nearby fire alarms. Jennifer McKusker, a first year Politics/Philosophy student, told Vision that in her second term, the alarm had been triggered unnecessarily “most weeks”. On one occasion the alarm sounded three times in the same night, once as Jennifer was washing her hair. As she emerged from the cubicle, Jennifer was confronted by weary firefighters who advised her to take a cold shower. “How’s a girl to get ready for a night out!”, she said. Halifax Chair Tim Fassam has claimed that a “huge quantity” of fire alarms across campus are “blatantly set to the wrong setting”. But University Admin hit back, arguing that most cases were caused by student’s negligence — smoking in rooms or leaving pans on the stove. Yesterday
morning an alarm sounded in Halifax after a student deliberately broke the glass, a spokeswoman said. York Fire Service is becoming increasingly concerned at the number of false call outs which are costing the University thousands of pounds. A spokesman told Vision, “every alarm must be attended to as an emergency”. During last term, firemen were apparently delayed from arriving at two serious incidents in the York area whilst responding to false alarms at the University. According to the Fire Service, the problem lies in the “siting of detector heads” for alarms in the “wrong place”— either “very small kitchens” or “too close to showers”. Fire Liaison officers are currently in discussion with the University, and plans to alleviate the problem are said to be “in the pipeline”. Firemen have suggested that a fire safety talk be included as part of the Freshers induction organised by the Students’ Union for next October.