Les Quennevais School security to be checked

Wednesday 15 February 2023

Les Quennevais School - which was recently the focus of threats by a former student to use an axe and homemade flame-thrower - is to be checked for potential security issues, the Children and Education Minister has confirmed.

25-year-old Daniel McMillan is currently in custody after the Magistrate’s Court heard earlier this month that he had enough butane gas in his home to make a deadly weapon, as well as a power-washer and an axe.

Mr McMillan threatened to use the weapons in an apparent "cry for help", saying he was bullied when he was at the school, and is now awaiting a place at suitable establishment in the UK where he can be transferred for a specialist assessment of his mental state.

This week, ​Chair of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Catherine Curtis submitted a written question to Deputy Inna Gardiner, the Minister for Children and Education, asking “whether access to Les Quennevais School cannot be securely maintained due to there being no gate and there being an insufficient door entry system".

Deputy Curtis also asked if "there are any consequential safeguarding issues that need to be rectified urgently” at the school.

Pictured: Children and Education Minister, Deputy Inna Gardiner.

Children and Education Minister, Deputy Gardiner responded that she "was not aware of any insufficiency in the door entry system at Les Quennevais School" nor "any urgent safeguarding issues as a consequence".

She explained: "There are a wide range of site security options deployed across the school estate and the specifics of each site often present their own unique challenges in this respect.

"My department take site security and safeguarding very seriously, and significant investment has been made in recent years to improve this across the school estate."

However, Deputy Gardiner added that she had asked CYPES officers to liaise with the Les Quennevais School and Jersey Property Holdings - the body responsible for the maintenance of the school building - to "fully understand any issues at Les Quennevais School and, if appropriate, to develop a costed plan and timeline for resolution".