Fence will stay to keep Max at bay

Nathan Crombie | 25th August 2009

A Wairarapa teacher inadvertantly caught in the middle of a scam will get to keep a $4600 fence she bought from a former principal.

"I need the fence to keep my dog Max secure and now we have chickens, I need it to keep Max out of the henhouse.

"There's nothing he'd love more than to get amongst them," teacher Janet Milne said from her Martinborough home yesterday.

She said in late 2007 she bought an 80m length of fencing through Trade Me from Barry Bloomfield, 56, then Huntly West School principal.

Mrs Milne has enjoyed many successful transactions through the online auction site and the trade was exemplary, "as you would expect when dealing with a school principal", she said.

Mr Bloomfield even went so far as to match colours for the steel pool fencing and delay shipping to better suit her and her husband, Mrs Milne said.

"Principals should be people of integrity and honesty, so I was completely unaware he had stolen the fence from his school until a detective from Hamilton called me part-way through last year."

Bloomfield pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and two charges of theft when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court in May. He was due to be sentenced on July 31 but has since disputed some of the facts.

Bloomfield sold the pool fence on Trade Me for $4600 but told staff there were no interested buyers so he quick-sold the structure for $80.

Mrs Milne said she intends to keep the fence and is unaware of any reparation order that may be pending.

Bloomfield now claims he was a victim while at the school and has complained to the Human Rights Commission, saying he was harassed for being gay.

Mrs Milne described Bloomfield as a ratbag.

She said she had been dragged into the court case to testify against Bloomfield and could not believe a principal would sink to such depths.

She said Bloomfield's sexual orientation was irrelevant and immaterial to her dealings with him.

Bloomfield was fired from the school after pleading guilty and the Teachers' Council has launched an investigation into his conduct while principal at Huntly West School.