Chapter 7: Paul's sentence

We all expected a full assembly at the start of the school day and for the principal to announce Paul's punishment then, but nothing happened and we started lessons as normal except June took his Maths class. "He can't make up his mind," June whispered to me at coffee break. "He had it all planned until you upset his thinking." Briefly I wondered what state Paul was in, sitting alone in his room waiting for a verdict that could be extremely painful but then I thought of Kate's arse and even mine and had no real sympathy for his waiting ordeal. If David was still thinking about the punishment to award, he must at least be considering my option.

Neither David nor June appeared for lunch but asked for sandwiches to be sent to their office. Security took Paul's but brought it back almost untouched and said he was angry at being cooped up and still believed he had the right to punish the students as he thought fit. "You'll have to watch your back too, Sarah, because he is threatening to get even with you if it is the last thing he does," one guard informed me.

Towards the end of the lunch period, we knew things were about to happen. Security ushered everyone out of the building except for a few security guards and the staff cleaning the dining room; they would be kept out of the way later. For nearly half an hour we sat around and spoke quietly, each of us wondering what would happen, but security kept us from openly discussing it. Finally we were allowed inside.

With some dread, I noticed the whipping bench was on the stage. June was already there and directed the students to sit in the body of the hall while security, tutors and certain ancillary staff sat or stood around the side walls. David entered and we all stood. It reminded me of a courtroom although no one called, "All rise." We sat down again and shortly a disturbance outside foretold the arrival of Paul. His appearance shocked me, and others as well. Naked and obviously he was in great fear of the punishment he was to undergo, he'd vented his anger on the security guards who'd then handcuffed and gagged him. Flanked by two of the largest guards and headed by Theresa and Godwin her superior, he was escorted to the stout chair used before punishments and, after being displayed standing for a short while, David signalled that he should sit. My mind vividly recalled my time in that chair before my flogging.

"Remove his gag please Theresa," David started but hardly had the gag been removed than Paul shouted abuse at everyone and called me a conniving, cunning slag who should have been punished instead of him. The gag was quickly replaced and David started a lengthy speech but, despite his words, there was an unhappy note in his voice.

First he once more apologised to Kate and me and went on with a eulogy of the system at the school. "I know many of you feel the punishment system here is harsh and all students and some of the staff have felt the strap and the cane. I make no apology for that and indeed, I think it has turned many of your lives around. Had not you been sent here, by now many of you would be drop-outs or in prison for major offences, instead you are receiving a good education and will leave here with qualifications that could help you obtain a good job." He went on a bit in that mode and then started to get to the point. "As you know I strongly believe in corporal punishment, but I also believe it should be fair and justified. This does not seem to have been the case with students under the control of tutor Paul Manning. Out of the thirty-one students here, twenty-two testified against his wrongful application of the strap. Five of our security staff also testified against him as did several of the ancillary staff and tutors. This was one of the reasons for the long delay in arranging this meeting." He looked directly at Paul, "You managed to keep all these irregularities hidden from me and I am appalled at the extent that you abused your authority." Paul shook his head and despite trying to hold them back, tears flowed down his face, he guessed, like we did, he was in for a severe thrashing.

"There was another reason for the long delay in announcing my decision. By early evening yesterday, I had made up my mind to order twenty-four strokes of the strap followed by twenty-four with the cane. The fact that he was prepared to let me whip a woman who really had done him no harm, just to get revenge for a minor incident, I felt warranted harsher treatment than that but it would have put Paul out of commission for longer and added to the workload of other staff. However, when I called Sarah in to the interview, she surprised me by declaring that she didn't wish Paul to receive any corporal punishment at all and argued a very strong case for using other methods of punishment." I heard gasps of surprise and disbelief from the students but David hardly paused. "She argued so strongly that it put me in a quandary, one that I spent most of the night pondering and by breakfast, I still hadn't come to any decision. One of the suggestions she made, was to put Paul on probation for the rest of his time here, with the threat of the punishment if he failed to keep to the terms of his probation. To me, and to many of you who have unjustly felt his strap, this would seem like he got off scot-free. I've discussed this at great length with June Taylor, my deputy, but I take full responsibility for my decision."

He really played out the suspense but at last he came to the nitty-gritty. "I've decided to compromise between Sarah's non violent ways and my first inclinations. Paul Manning, you will immediately receive ten strokes on the strap followed by ten with the cane and I will withhold giving you twenty-four with each instrument as part of your probation that will last until you leave. If you violate the terms I set out, even if it is the day before you leave, you will get the full punishment I determined for you. Secondly, you will not be allowed to use the strap again for any offence until I deem you are worthy to do so." Turning to the students he went on, "That doesn't mean you can get away with doing what you like! Paul can appeal to me or to one of the security staff and if we deem it necessary, we will act as his proxy and punish you for him." I didn't want him punished at all with the strap or cane but I supposed David made what he thought was a reasonable compromise and I hoped Paul would think it was too.

"Thirdly, the computer will not select any students to visit your room at nights. This was one of the main complaints made against you Paul; when they refused your mainly gay sexual inclinations, as they have every right to, you made their life difficult, indeed painful, by punishing them for inconsequential faults in other lessons. You may ask any student to sleep with you, and I know some will be willing, but there must be no forcing them or using coercion and underhand methods to get them to do so. For at least the next few weeks this will be closely monitored." David re-iterated the three points again and asked Paul if he understood. They removed his gag but he only nodded and didn't look pleased.

The punishment was carried out in same way as mine except June didn't take part. David laid the strap and cane on really hard and the welts were deep and raw. Paul yelled long and loud and swore obscenities at me for causing his suffering. I couldn't help sobbing when I saw his suffering and remembered my time on the bench not that many weeks before but I couldn't do anything to relieve the agony I knew he was going through. Two security guards stood either side of me and, although they didn't forcibly restrain me, the touch of one man's hand on my arm was sufficient to keep me in my place. We all had to file past to get a close look at the welts but no one was offered the opportunity to rape him. "Are you satisfied now Bitch!" he yelled at me when I passed by but I was too choked to answer. Kate put her arm around my shoulders and we went to lessons but with everyone's mind on the caning, little was achieved.

One other change came about as a result of Paul's misbehaviour; I was put in charge of gym. "I don't expect you to take the lesson, Paul will do that but you are to oversee him," June explained when she announced my new role. I wondered why David didn't tell me himself but she said he wasn't feeling up to it at the moment.

"I'm sorry Paul, I didn't intend..." I started when we met in the common room next morning. He'd not turned up for gym and I asked Chris to take the lesson so it was the first time I'd seen him since his punishment.

"I'm Mr. Manning to you!" he snarled and this set the pattern for our relationship. Instead of being grateful that I had curtailed the extent of his flogging, he saw me as the bitch who'd stopped his games with the students and lessened his authority over them.

A fortnight later when things hadn't improved between us, June called me into her office to discuss the situation. "Paul has complained that twice, when a student deserved the strap you failed to use it and turned the incident into what he called, 'comic relief' and was in no way a punishment."

I knew the one he was particularly incensed about. Tony definitely wasn't putting any real effort into his exercise and when Paul indicated I should strap him I took the boy aside and after speaking with him and getting an assurance he would make more effort afterwards, I ordered him to act as my vaulting horse and he wouldn't be allowed to crouch. First shock and then a smile especially when I cleared him the first time and then made him stand a little higher. I cleared him that time too, just. His smile disappeared when I made him stand even higher but I ran up, smacked his bum and told him to go back and work. He did but Paul wasn't pleased.

June and I discussed the problem for half an hour without finding a solution and I tried to find out what lay behind his problem. "You've not seen his file?" I shook my head, "They're not secret and all the students and staff that were here when he arrived saw it, like they saw yours, but afterwards we try to forget about them on the principle that once to punishment is over, the slate is wiped clean but in this case it might help if you know his history." She handed me a file from the cabinet and left me alone to read it in her office.

Paul Manning

Edited transcript of an interview under hypnosis

I suppose I am really bisexual but in fact I enjoy fucking a boy's arse more than a girl's cunt and it was my liking for gay sex that led to my losing my job and to my interview with you.

Probably I was ten or eleven when I had my first sexual experience although it was a very minor one. Four of us spent the morning in the local woods playing hide-and-seek and such like. Two were my age, and the other, Jimmy, was two years older and always the leader. When his younger brother said he needed to piss, Jimmy gathered us in a circle around a tin can, told us to drop our trousers and pants and piss on the can. We all had to hold our pricks so they could be seen and he was proud of his larger one. We all sprayed the can but were forbidden to pull our trousers up again until we wanked ourselves off over the tin. I remember being surprised at the size his grew and the amount of spunk he produced. As I was the last to erupt, he came and rubbed it for me and I enjoyed the feel of his hand as he finished wanking me off.