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Carrington Heights Primary School, whose principal has been detained by British police on drug-related charges.
Mystery surrounds the arrest on drug-related charges last Saturday of Annabella Momplé, respected headmistress of Carrington Heights Primary School in Durban.
Colleagues and family are reeling in shock at the news that Momplé, a former Durban Girls’ College scholarship pupil, is being held in prison after being detained at Heathrow Airport in London.
She is now awaiting a December 20 court appearance – her second since her arrest – after being prevented from boarding a return flight to South Africa.
While she reportedly told colleagues she was attending a family funeral in Ireland, and her parents and brother, journalist Paddy Harper, that she was on an educational trip, she apparently went to Brazil instead.
Momplé is the single parent of a teenage son from her first marriage.
Harper has been appointed the family spokesman. He requested that members of the media refrain from contacting his elderly parents, as they were in distress.
“We don’t know the circumstances that led to the arrest,” he told the Tribune.
“As far as we knew, Annabella had gone on an education department trip to Brazil and the UK. Then we received a call saying she had been taken ill. We were subsequently contacted and told she had been arrested at Heathrow Airport on Saturday and placed in a UK jail. It is believed to be a drug-related charge. We were told that a legal aid lawyer has been appointed to represent her, and she had made a brief court appearance but was not asked to plead to any charge.”
Harper said that because his sister, who has dual nationality, had been travelling on her Irish, rather than South African passport, the matter had not been brought to the attention of the SA Department of Foreign Affairs.
“We have since liaised with them and they are looking into the matter,” he said.
“We don’t know what happened… I cannot speculate… My parents are devastated.”
Harper said that as a remand prisoner his sister would be entitled to receive one phone call a week.
“A liaison person has been appointed to facilitate contact between us,” he continued. “We remain largely in the dark. This was completely unexpected. My sister is a respected, committed educator who has made a significant contribution to the lives of hundreds of children. Speculation doesn’t help. We are just waiting for the law to take its course so we can learn the facts. There is nothing more we can do.”
Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela could not get hold of authorities in the UK and the Tribune’s repeated attempts to get comment from police at Scotland Yard, Heathrow Airport and the UK Border Agency proved unsuccessful.
Monyela said: “We’ve noted the reports on this matter, we will follow it up through consular channels.”
Momplé’s second husband, from whom she is divorced, is a teacher at the school. He is battling to process the news that she will not be coming home.
“Annabella is my closest friend, even though we are no longer married,” he said. “I would put my head on a block for her. I am Sudanese and grew up in a refugee camp. When I first came to this country she made me feel welcome.”
He was adamant Momplé did not use illegal substances. The teacher asked that his identity be withheld.
“Everyone assumes I know more, but there was no indication at all that Annabella planned anything more than an ordinary trip.
“I was a bit worried when I couldn’t get hold of her for a few days while she was away, but then I spoke to her in England yesterday (on Friday) and she was excited about flying home. She told me she had bought perfume for staff members at the duty-free shops.
“I was a bit concerned because she was running out of medication – she takes a lot of tablets, including for severe depression – but there was no indication anything was amiss.
“None of this tallies with the woman I know,” he said. “She would not have brought drugs into the country that could be sold to children. She adores her son and the children at her school. She is more than a principal, she is a surrogate mother to her 540 pupils.
“The majority of our pupils come from shacks in Mayville. She knows each of them by name, as well as their personal circumstances. She has even funded high school education for a number of the children. At Kip McGrath, where she and I teach part-time, all the kids want to be tutored by her. She makes them appreciate themselves and their abilities.”
The teacher said pupils had been given a letter on Friday, telling them their principal had had a heart attack.
“My phone has been ringing non-stop ever since.”
A female colleague was deeply shocked to hear of Momplé’s arrest. She, too, requested anonymity.
“She had a meeting with staff and told us she was going to Ireland because an uncle had passed away and her aunt had bought her a ticket to attend the funeral. She was behaving quite normally. She told us she would be back on December 5, and that she would sign all the children’s reports then.
“Everyone was worried when she didn’t return as planned, but her mother called and told us she had had a heart attack on the way to the airport. We were very upset and wanted to send flowers, but Mrs Harper didn’t know which hospital Annabella was in. This news is so terribly sad. We miss her. She is well loved.”
Bronzefield Prison, close to Heathrow Airport, is a category A adult female/juvenile prison housing up to 527 offenders. The largest women’s prison in Europe, the top security facility opened in 2004. It takes prisoners direct from the courts, including remand, sentenced and restricted status women.
The most infamous prisoner housed at the facility is serial killer Rose West.
In an unrelated case, the fate of a South African woman sentenced to death in China has been referred to that country’s high court for a final decision, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation said on Friday, Sapa-dpa reports.
The department said it had already started engaging the Chinese authorities regarding Janice Bronwyn Linden, 35. – Sunday Tribune
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School headmistress held for drugs