Pembroke students fined for extinguisher prank
An initial £500 fine was reduced to £250 plus £63 costs
TWO PEMBROKE students, fined £1000 between them for setting off a fire extinguisher during the interview period, have had their penalties reduced on appeal by a standing committee of three college fellows. Tim Creswick, a third-year engineering and computer science student, and Andrew Fabricius, a PPE finalist, entered a staircase on the college's North Quad on Monday of ninth week at the end of Michaelmas term.
They set off two of the college's fire extinguishers and woke up a candidate who was staying at the college during the interview period. After being summoned the next afternoon to see Dean Dr Lynda Mugglestone, Fabricius was informed both he and Creswick would be fined. The fines, which amounted to £500 each plus costs, constituted the maximum amount permitted by college regulations for the abuse of fire safety equipment.
Creswick was not contacted by the Dean regarding the matter, and despite phoning her himself on the Tuesday evening was not summoned to see her or given the chance to explain his actions. By Thursday of ninth week both students had written full letters of apology addressed to the Dean, the Master of the college and the Senior Tutor. However, the students were still referred to the Master, Giles Henderson, despite having already been penalised by the Dean.
This precluded their pursuing the first point of appeal, which – according to the college's regulations – is the Master. Despite a meeting with the College Senior Adviser, the students were not made aware of this appeals process and were told: “Keep your heads down”. Yet after reading the college regulations, the pair decided to appeal to a standing committee.
After three weeks of no communication, they were told that their appeal would be on Friday 18th February, ensuring a ten-week gap between the offence and the appeal. In a joint statement, Creswick and Fabricius said: “We have absolutely no dispute that what we did was wrong but the excessive fine levied on us meant that we were forced to appeal.” The standing committee commuted the fine to £250 in addition to £63 costs.
It is by no means exceptional at Pembroke for students to be fined £500 for abusing fire safety equipment, but every such incident over the past four years has seen at least £415 of the penalty suspended indefinitely. Students thus have not paid more than £85 for the offence initially. The pair were required to pay their fines immediately, despite exemplary past disciplinary records.
The appeal took over 12 hours of each student's time to prepare, and Fabricius expressed his disappointment in the disciplinary process: “The appeals process has vindicated us but we still have had to deal with this matter for five weeks.” Creswick added: “Had the regulations and precedent been adhered to by the college, we would have had no problems or interference with our academic work this term.
Dr Mugglestone told The Oxford Student: “Our college policy is not to discuss publicly individual disciplinary cases.” However, she added: “In accordance with the College's rules, any incident concerning the abuse of fire safety equipment is taken very seriously indeed, as it puts the safety of others at risk. “Whilst there is a maximum limit of £500 for any resultant fine for such misconduct, there is no fixed tariff and all the surrounding circumstances will be taken into account."
24th Feb 2005