Teacher charged over teenage drug sale

Sydney Boys' High teacher John Pirrie leaves court after vehemently denying the charge. Photo by NICK MOIR. By STEPHEN GIBBS Teacher John Pirrie was promoted to raise the profile of cricket at Sydney Boys' High but he didn't want any sort of profile yesterday after being accused of supplying drugs to a schoolgirl. The former cricket master faced Central Local Court charged with supplying almost a quarter of a kilogram of cannabis to a 14-year-old girl. He vehemently denied the claim. The court heard Pirrie, 39, had lived in the attic of a Bondi Junction home occupied by a mother, her son and her daughter for about six months from January 1996. Between then and November 1997 he had occasionally popped into the house for coffee with the mother and sometimes met the girl on the street, the court heard. The woman told police that on November 21 she found a bag of marijuana leaf "that looked like it had pretty good head on it" under her daughter's bed. Later that day her daughter came into her room crying. "She said something like "Mum, you've found the dope'," the woman said. "She said "John gave it to me'. "I think I gave her a hug and said it was not her fault and it was really terrific that she told me the truth." The girl told police Pirrie had given her the 221 grams of marijuana to sell for him. Pirrie does not smoke and said he had never sold, supplied or distributed drugs. His friend and former colleague at Sydney Boys' High, Mr Andrew Spencer, said the cricket master had been dumbfounded by the allegation. [Magistrate Ms Judith Fleming was told Mr Spencer was late into the witness box because he had to apply ice to a forehead wound sustained during an "altercation" with the media.] He described Pirrie as an excellent teacher who devoted most days after work to helping with sport. Much of his spare time was spent writing about ancient Macedonia. Pirrie said his job as cricket master was to raise the sport's profile and lift the school's standing in GPS competition. This often kept him at work until 6.30pm. He said he was home about 5pm on November 26 - five days after the marijuana was found - when the girl's mother called. She made no mention of marijuana, he said. Instead, he said the woman claimed he had been stalking his daughter. Pirrie, who also denies ever stalking the girl, is still a casual teacher at Sydney Boys' High. The hearing was adjourned to Downing Centre Local Court on December 14.

This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.