Mr Thomas

Mr Robert Michael Thomas, (Born, 6 February 1959) was the Deputy Headteacher and Georgraphy teacher at Fare Isle school from September 1986 to November 2008.

Early life
Rob Thomas's father was a clerk for the city council in Manchester. His mother and father met when they were asked to sit on the jury of at a high profile court case. Two men convicted of conning hundreds of thousands of pounds out of a company. They were found guilty. Often hearing about this tale Rob grew up always wanting to be a barrister or a judge of somesort.

Practising as a lawyer
Hardoworking and inteliigent, Rob Thomas passed his A-levels with flying colours and went on to study law at Manchester University, chosing to stay at home rather than live on the campus of the university. He was soon called to the bar and began practising law as a junior barrister at the age of just 24. He travelled up and down the country and enjoyed his job.

His career went from strength to strength and after being apointed a high court judge, he was called to rule over a number of high profile cases including securing the conviction of a member of parliament for rape.

First marriage
Rob married his wife Charlotte, who was working as a solictor in London for the first time aged 24. Together they bought a house in Western London and lived quite happily for three years.

Death of his father and end of his first career
When his elderly father was mugged on the way to work and later died in hopsital from the shock, Rob became increasingly irrate and angry that the robbers were never caught. Feeling useless he burried himself in his work much to his wife's dismmay and she complained that he never got to see his daughter. By the time he was 31 they were divorced.

Also that year a case was brought before Rob with similar circumstances as those that his father died in. An elderly woman had been half way through withdrawing money at a bank only for a robbery to take place while she was there. The men in balacavas grabbed hold of the woman and stole the cash out of her hands, letting her live but shooting the woman who was serving her behind the counter. Just two weeks later the elderly woman died of exhausation.

Rob was determined to convcit the robbers whatever the case and worked flat out on the case, watching with intrest as each side of the story was told and evidence was given in court. He obessed over the details, looking for anything that would prove them guilty. In the end the men were aquitted. Rob could not handle the verdict.

Drinking loads and increasingly strained by what had happened, he was forced to quit the profession, having never probably done justice to the case that meant so much to him.

Relationship with Arthur Hingsley
Arthur Hinglsey and Robert Thomas had long been freinds. They met when Rob moved to high school aged 11. Feeling nervous, he had been taken in by a traniee teacher who had much the same feelings. On his first day Arthur Hingsley, having just finished his degree aged 24, had not been trusted with taking a full class and was forced to sit at the back of the classroom, helping the new children where he befreinded Rob.

Later as he both moved up the school, rising through the ranks to become Head of History encouraged Rob to go to university even if it was against his parents wishes, suggesting he reach a comprimise by attending Manchester University and staying at home.

When his career came to an end and his wife left him, Rob moved back to Manchester and into his dead mother's house where he met Arthur, now the Deputy Headteacher of the college. They went for coffee and just as he had so many years ago, Arthur persuaded Rob to pursuit a career in teaching, promising an interview for the post of Georgpahy teacher at Fare Isle school to escape his problems.

Geography teacher at Fare Isle School
On 3 September 1986 Rob Thomas landed at the newly built Fare Isle school to take up the post of Geography teacher, a post he was allowed to undertake with his outstanding A grade A-level grade in the subject, providing he completed an open university degree in Geography and was carefully observed by the other staff on a regular basis.

Later Life
Having calmed down somewhat and realised that there was far more to life than a sallary or a stressfull job, Rob enjoyed teaching his pupils and came over at Christmas, during the Easter and Summer. He kept in contact with his wife and after several years of talking things through the two got back together and had their first child Daisy in 1994 and their second Viola some years later in 2003. Although Rob could not be at home all the time, he frequently used Skype to contact his two daughters and it was this that made him particulary angry when Mrs Pearl took over. He had always been told that he would take over from Arthur Hingsley as headteacher of the school and was stunned when this did not happen.