A TEENAGER this week failed to win damages from a council she claimed had failed to protect her from bullies.
A High Court judge ruled that a school - and hence a local authority - cannot be held responsible for bullying that takes place off the premises.
Leah Bradford-Smart, now 19, was seeking pound;75,000 after claiming she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of negligence by West Sussex CountyCouncil.
An earlier hearing was told that she was the victim of “persistent and prolonged bullying” while a pupil at Ifield middle school, Crawley, between September 1990 and July 1993.
Mr Justice Garland accepted she had been seriously affected by her ordeal, but said blame could not be placed on the school where her form teacher had taken “reasonable steps” to safeguard her from her tormentors.
