College bars teenager who went on roof of Tory HQ
An A-level student who took part in the tuition fees protest at the Tory headquarters has been suspended by her college.
Olivia Wedderburn, 18, was sent home from Esher College in Surrey after she admitted going onto the roof of the Millbank building.
At the time she said: "We were in the courtyard and people were smashing through the glass to get into the building and saying come in' so we just went in. Then there was an opportunity to go up the stairs, so we thought, Oh, we'll do that' ."
Her father Peter, a 59-year-old events organiser, defended his daughter. He said: "She doesn't know central London very well and didn't realise it was Tory headquarters. The way she tells it to me was they broke the windows and the weight of the crowd behind her pushed her into the building.
She was only in there for a short while. Her friend had a panic attack and then the police let them out. She was basically in the wrong part of the protest at the wrong time."
Mr Wedderburn, who was involved in student politics in his university days, added: "I fully supported her going to the protest. People like her forms will be more impacted by the increases than those already at university. It will be really expensive for them. She was certainly not involved in any criminal damage or vandalism and was not arrested."
Dan Dean, principal of Esher College, said: "The student concerned absented herself without permission. As such we will be dealing with the issue as an internal disciplinary matter. The college does not condone any behaviour which breaks the law."
