BRENT Council won a partial victory in its attempt to recoup millions in alleged unlawful payments yesterday after a judge ruled that former school staff and governors were liable.

Whistle-blower Hank Roberts, who uncovered the scandal at Copland Community School in 2009 that ultimately saw former head teacher Alan Davies convicted and stripped of his knighthood, told the Star he was delighted with the result.

He said the case revealed how the academy system was “open to this abuse by its very nature” and called for the return of academies to local authority control.