24 2GM Saturday October 17 2020 | the times
News
As they patiently wait for a bite by lakes
across the country, anglers could be
mistaken for a serene breed.
Beneath the surface, however, an-
gling is riven by professional jealousy
and social media attacks on rivals.
Wayne Mansford, 38, of Windsor,
Berkshire, has revealed how the dark
side of the sport has made him consider
abandoning hopes of registering the
catch of a lifetime. He said that he had
caught a 75lb 2oz mirror carp at Holme
Fen Fishery in Cambridgeshire, but
decided not to register it as a record
over fear of receiving death threats.
Teachers demand end to
ban on Afro hairstyles
Nicola Woolcock
Education Correspondent
Teaching unions have backed a
campaign to end hair discrimination
against black students in schools.
Campaigners say that too many
uniform policies are unfair to black
children because of expectations about
hairstyles.
A leading grammar school scrapped
hair-related uniform rules last year
because the head teacher said that
black pupils were being disproportion-
ately punished for infringements. Now
the two head teachers’ unions and one
teachers’ union have supported those
lobbying for change.
Michelle Codrington-Rogers, presi-
dent of the NASUWT, said: “No school,
college or workplace should impose
Eurocentric interpretations of profes-
sionalism on my ability based on my
hair. Base it on what I deliver in the
classroom and the young people I inter-
act with. And it’s not just us teachers —
our children should be judged on their
ability, not which direction their hair
grows.”
Styling techniques used for thou-
sands of years can often be discouraged
and discriminated against in schools.
Michelle De Leon, the founder of
World Afro Day, welcomed the union
support but added: “There is still a
lot of work to be done with school
leadership.”
Some schools have banned dread-
locks, braids or weaves and ask for Afro
hair to be trimmed short.
Townley Grammar School in south-
east London was one of the first to
abolish hair-related punishments,
allowing girls to dye their hair.
More than half its pupils are from
black African families.Taking charge The Duke and Duchess of Sussex publicise an online talk they will
host on “engineering a better world” on Tuesday, organised by Time magazine
MATT STYLES/PACarping and death threats sink angling’s image
Fariha Karim His decision was motivated by a
growing controversy around the prove-
nance of the fish. The mirror carp
caught by Mr Mansford, a roofer, was
imported from Israel to the lake at 15lb,
prompting some to say that it is invalid
for a British record.
“It was a personal best,” Mr Mansford
said. “Never in my lifetime will I get one
bigger, not in the UK. But there was a
guy, a young lad who caught another
fish that was imported. He received a lot
of flack online and death threats. I’ve
got a young family and can’t have that.”
Mr Mansford, who fishes for England
and last year triumphed with Ryan
Need at the British Carp Angling
Championships for the second year in a
row, said that he had already received
negative comments on social media
about the carp, named The Marshall.
“I’ve had a lot of comments from
people saying it doesn’t count, it’s an
import,” he said. “They don’t feel it’s
a true British fish, even though all the
carp were imported at some point
in this country. They feel it
should have grown
from a fish at birth.”
Mr Mansford,
who has
been fish-
ing since
the age offive, has previously said that “there are
a good bunch of lads” that enter UK and
European championship competitions,
“and the banter and friendships made is
worth it, let alone the trophies”. How-
ever, he said that the world of com-
petitive fishing was cut-throat.
“There’s always someone trying to
mock you or put you down,” he
said. He said that the death
threats were “ridiculous”,
adding: “I think it’s jeal-
ousy.” Mr Mansford
described how hecaught The Marshall. His bite alarm
went off at 5.30am last Sunday, and he
ran out in his shorts and T-shirt to try to
catch it. “The fight lasted about ten
minutes,” he said. When he tried to lift
it up, “I thought it was hooked to the
bottom, then I got it to the hooking mat
and I realised how big it was.”
Mr Mansford remains undecided as
to whether to register The Marshall
with the British Record Fish Commit-
tee. The committee previously said that
it would not comment on a catch until
an application was made, but added
that it had previously rejected a fish
from Holme Fen because fish in its
ff waters were artificially fed.d
Wayne Mansford with his
75lb catch from the lake