THE teenager who was expelled from Marlborough College for consistently poor behaviour promised yesterday that he would work harder and mend his ways if he were allowed to return.

Rhys Gray, 16, told Judge Anthony Thompson that he was extremely surprised to have been asked to leave the school last May and that he was never aware that his behaviour would merit expulsion.

However, the college insists that his incidents of smoking, drinking and bullying were severely disrupting the education of other pupils. The Master of Marlborough said that if he were allowed to return, it would have a devastating effect on staff morale.

The case came before Southampton County Court after Russell Gray, 49, accused the prominent Wiltshire boarding school of a breach of contract by refusing to continue with his son’s education. The legal effort to prevent an expulsion is unprecedented in boarding-school history and, if successful, could hamper the ability of private schools to expel pupils. Rhys appeared a model pupil in court. He admitted being frequently upbraided in the past three years for his behaviour at the £21,900-a-year school. But he insisted that he obeyed the rules 90 per cent of the time and was never under the impression that he would be expelled. Asked by the judge how he would change if he were allowed back to study maths, chemistry and physics at A level, Rhys replied: “I will be working a lot harder and also I would enjoy working because I would be doing more interesting subjects.”

The school argued that a consistently poor disciplinary record allowed it to exclude the teenager under a clause in the contract with parents that concerns pupils unwilling or unable to profit from the educational opportunities offered. When challenged that he must have known the consequences for having the worst disciplinary record in the school, Rhys said: “I probably should have changed it, but I thought the extent of it was fine regarding sixth form, and I was under that impression from the teachers.”Mr Gray, a property restorer from London, acknowledges that with 398 so-called blue chits, his son “headed the league table” at the college for misdemeanours. But he insists that Rhys has proven he is academically engaged after passing nine GCSEs, including four with A grades, and should be allowed to continue his studies there.

However, a 50-page witness statement by Nicholas Sampson, the Master of Marlborough, listed a catalogue of Rhys’s misdemeanours, including having a girl in his room, bullying, exposing himself, swearing and disrupting classes.

Mr Sampson said that Rhys, who is mildly dyslexic, had the lowest effort grades of the 150 pupils in his year. He addded that his father “appeared to trivialise Rhys’s behavioural problems” and did not work with the school to deal with them.

The case continues.

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