Kimberley College’s Paul Thomson accused of bullying in Brisbane court

A former colleague of Paul Thomson, Kimberley College’s founding principal facing charges of fraud and computer hacking, has accused him of bullying staff.

Former Kimberley College principal Paul Thomson, 79, and daughter Amy Leigh Ferguson, 38, leave the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The founding school principal of Logan’s Kimberley College, who is facing fraud and computer hacking charges related to him allegedly using college funds for his own benefit, allegedly bullied staff, a court has heard.

A former guidance counsellor at the school, Christine Harman, testified in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday that Mr Thomson previously instructed her to make false claims to educational bodies about his treatment of a student.

Mr Thomson, 79, and his daughter Amy Leigh Ferguson, the school’s former chief financial officer, are charged with a number of offences related to them allegedly using Kimberley College funds as their own personal piggy bank from 2012.

Ms Harman, a registered teacher, was questioned on Friday about her claims that Mr Thomson bullied her while she was employed by the school.

She alleged Mr Thomson had on one occasion several years ago threatened to expel a student if she did not give him her phone as he believed it contained a pornographic photo of another child.

Following the alleged incident, which Ms Harman said involved a two-hour “interrogation” of the child that left her “beside herself”, the school allegedly received complaints from parents.

Ms Harman alleged Mr Thomson asked her to prepare a number of documents to be sent to educational bodies and persons explaining what happened.

“For all of these (documents) there were a couple of different versions,“ she said.

In several instances she said she presented a version of a document to Mr Thomson, who told her it was unacceptable for one reason or another.

“My recollection was that in the original documents I had reported on things like the raising of voices, things that I observed, and in subsequent documents those were removed … at the instruction of Paul Thomson,” she said.

Ms Harman said she feared she would lose her job if she did not use “selective language”.

Mr Thomson’s barrister Tony Morris quoted a statement she allegedly made at the time.

“‘Furthermore, Mr Thomson sought out my advice. Although Mr Thomson makes the final call in disciplinary matters, he exercised restraint and forethought in the matters at hand’,” he quoted her saying.

“Was that your honest opinion when you created this document?”

She said it was not.

“I was trying to protect the college, and I was trying to protect (my job),” she said.

The Magistrates Court in Brisbane. Picture: NCA Newswire / Dan Peled

She also claimed she was instructed to write that the child who alleged she was sent a pornographic photo from another student “willingly” unlocked her phone and showed Mr Thomson her photos, when in fact she did not.

Ms Harman said she did not make any formal written complaints about Mr Thomson’s alleged conduct because he was the only person she could make a complaint to and she felt she had no support from the school’s board of directors.

She said it was the school’s position, so she had to write in documents requested by Mr Thomson, that any “disciplinary action” taken against the students involved in the alleged ‘nude’ photo incident was not “based on their initial claim of a nude being sent” but on other matters such as bullying.

Ms Harman has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Mr Thomson is charged with four charges of fraud of or above $30,000 and a count each of extortion, false declarations, and computer hacking, while his daughter Amy Ferguson is accused of seven counts of fraud of or above $30,000, two counts of computer hacking, and a count each of perjury, extortion, and fraud.

Ms Ferguson’s husband Kevin Robert Ferguson stands accused of three counts of receiving tainted property and one of fraud of or above $30,000. None of the accused have entered a plea.

Magistrate Belinda Merrin adjourned the committal hearing to April 24.

EARLIER

Mr Thomson’s defence counsel raised perceived concerns in the Magistrates Court on Thursday with how Queensland Police Service had handled its investigation and made the bombshell claim a “skip full” of financial documents relevant to the case had been destroyed.

Defence barrister Tony Morris questioned Sergeant Anthony Hartley, formerly the officer in charge of the investigation, about whether he was aware of the ‘missing’ documents.

“There is other evidence in these proceedings that some 30-odd cartons of financial records were held by the school …,” Mr Morris said.

“There’s also evidence in these proceedings that a skip full of financial documents was destroyed.”

Sgt Hartley said he was not aware of the documents and thought all relevant data the school held had been handed over to police.

It was previously alleged by the defence that the issue of “destroyed evidence” related to an incident that took place at Kimberley College in 2018 after Mr Thomson and his daughter Ms Ferguson were sacked.

Ms Ferguson’s defence barrister Isaac Munsie also claimed the senior police officer leading the investigation had recently come into possession of an additional 14 boxes of school records containing potential evidence such as receipts.