Judge refuses to explain why he claims to have a knighthood

Martin Shipton

A judge has failed to explain why he claims to have a knighthood when there is no record of his having been made a “Sir”.

Employment Judge Mark Aspinall is listed as a governor of Ysgol Llanfyllin, a combined primary and secondary school in Llanfyllin, north Powys.

He also chairs the trustees of the Matrix Academy Trust, which runs a school in Walsall, West Midlands.

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'Proud'

On the trust’s website his name is given as Sir Mark Aspinall and a welcome message from him states: “I am proud to be the chair of a trust which has ‘Education Without Exception’ as its mission. All children deserve the very best, whatever school they attend.

"While our schools have their individual traits and personalities, they are united in our shared high expectation for all pupils. If it would not be good enough for our own relatives, it's not good enough for pupils in our schools.

“All Matrix schools place children at the heart of every decision. When we come to making decisions at a board meeting, we keep coming back to 'What's best for the kids?'.

“I am proud to be the chair of a trust board which gets involved in the lives of our schools. I love going in as often as I can to support our hardworking leaders and teachers and provide them with constructive challenges to really get the best for every one of the children in their care.”

However, he is not referred to as “Sir Mark” on the website of Ysgol Llanfyllin. Nor does the title make an appearance when he is listed as a member of the high-powered legal body the Administrative Justice Council (AJC), when another member of the council, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, President of Welsh Tribunals, receives the designation.

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Powys county council

The issue of whether he is a knight or not has been raised with the cabinet member for education at Powys County Council, Cllr Richard Jones.

Nation.Cymru was tipped off about the anomaly and sought to discover whether Employment Judge Aspinall was entitled to call himself “Sir” or not.

We searched the database of the London Gazette, which lists all knighthoods conferred since the reign of King George V1, the father of the late Queen Elizabeth 11. There was no record of the judge having been awarded a knighthood.

We then wrote to the judge, stating: “Dear Sir,

“We are aware that you are also a member of the governing body at Ysgol Llanfyllin.

“It has been suggested to us by a source in Powys that despite your description as Sir Mark Aspinall, you have not in fact been knighted. We have checked in The Gazette, which holds a record of all knighthoods conferred, and can find no reference to your having been knighted. In other public listings, you are not referred to as a knight.

“Why then are you referred to as a knight on the website of the Matrix Academy Trust?”

'Unlawful'

Employment Judge Aspinall responded: “I am no longer a member of the governing body at Ysgol Llanfyllin as my children have now left the school.

“You refer to The Gazette. For clarity, not all titles, honours or distinctions appear there. Only those within the United Kingdom’s state honours system, generally administered through the Cabinet Office, are routinely published; others — including courtesy, foreign, dynastic, ecclesiastical, hereditary or professional distinctions — are not.

“What concerns me most, however, is your indication that someone within Powys may have been supplying information about me. If accurate, that would represent a very serious and potentially unlawful breach of confidentiality, given the statutory protections applying to safeguarding and related information. I am particularly troubled by the possibility that this could reflect a personal or motivated disclosure by an individual who may have had prior involvement in unrelated matters.

“I would therefore be grateful if you could confirm, in confidence, who provided that information and why it has been shared with you, so that I can consider whether to take further steps, and which. I hope this brief explanation helps to convey the background to my concern.”

Sources

We responded: “You will appreciate that journalists do not reveal their sources, and therefore we cannot disclose the provenance of my information.

“You imply that your knighthood has been conferred outside the normal honours list process. We would be grateful if you could provide us with details of what you are referring to. Presumably there is a record of its having been awarded to you. We ask you to provide us with evidence of that.”

We gave the judge a deadline, but he did not meet it and we have heard no more from him.