Teacher who ran Thatcher 'death party' says it was a wonderful event

A special needs teacher slammed for his role in organising a Lady Thatcher “death party” that descended into violence today called the anarchic scenes “wonderful”.

Craig Parr, a former teacher at Haverstock School in Camden, helped rally people to attend Monday night’s “celebrations” in Brixton. Hundreds gathered for the event which was promoted on Facebook and Twitter.

While mostly peaceful, there were clashes with missiles thrown at police, a Barnardo’s charity shop broken into and paint thrown at a Foxtons estate agents.

Mr Parr, 28, led chants of “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, dead, dead, dead” while handing out posters stating: “Rejoice”.

The teacher resigned in February after concerns were raised about his conduct but will not officially leave his post until the end of this month.

John Dowd, headteacher at Haverstock where former pupils include Ed Miliband and his brother David, condemned Mr Parr’s behaviour.

However the teacher, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, told the Standard he stands by his actions and blamed Lady Thatcher’s “legacy” for present-day cuts to public services.

Mr Parr, from West Norwood, who taught 11 and 12 year-olds with special educational needs at Haverstock, said: “I don’t want to speak ill of the dead but Thatcher’s legacy lives on. It lived on in Blair and now with Cameron. Both leaders have taken on Thatcher’s policies.

“The Government is now targeting the police, the health service, teachers, local authority spending — the list goes on. It is wonderful what is happening now. This is where real change starts. Ed Miliband is the only politician who has made some efforts to stamp out what Thatcher did.”

Another secondary school teacher, Emma Jones, 30, from Brixton, was photographed on Monday holding a doctored copy of the Standard’s front page announcing Lady Thatcher’s death.

The late prime minister’s face featured the addition of devil horns and red paint dripping from her mouth.

Ms Jones, a drama teacher and poet in her spare time, said she went home several hours before violence flared.

She said: “When I woke up, and saw the damage that had been done I was appalled.

“Brixton is my home and I was sad to see the vandalism people had done. I do not condone it in any way.”

Ms Jones added that as a teacher she sees the “effects of Thatcherism first hand” on some of London’s most deprived communities.

The teachers were supported in Brixton by London university students, who said today Britain still felt the shockwaves from the Thatcher government’s “barbaric policies”.

Aamna Mohdin, 21, a biology student at Queen Mary, University of London, said: “I think a lot of people are upset and say we should not be celebrating any death but I argue the death of a terrible person is a good thing.”

Alejandra Sanchez, 21, an unemployed Spanish national of no fixed abode, was convicted of burglary at Camberwell magistrates court yesterday relating to Barnardo’s.

She was jailed for 28 days, suspended for 12 months.