'Heartbroken' mother of nine-year-old girl reveals 'disbelief' after photo firm ... trends now
The 'heartbroken' mother of a girl with additional support needs who was removed from a school picture has told of her 'disbelief' at a photo agency's behaviour.
Natalie Pinnell today said it was 'inhumane' that parents were offered two versions of a class photograph taken at Aboyne Primary School in Scotland - one featuring her daughter Erin, nine, and one without.
The revelations have sparked widespread outrage, including from Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf who condemned the incident at the Aberdeen school as 'really dreadful'.
Businesswoman mother-of-two Ms Pinnell, 38, told ITV's Good Morning Britain today: 'One email went out for the specific classes at the school, with two options.
'One, with specifically my child's class in it and one without her, allowing them to make the choice whether they wanted to delete her from the picture effectively.'
Natalie Pinnell told ITV's Good Morning Britain today of her 'disbelief' at the picture decision
She told how her nine-year-old daughter Erin (pictured) was being 'erased'
Mother-of-two Natalie Pinnell, pictured with daughter Erin, criticised Tempest Photography
When asked by presenters Richard Madeley and Charlotte Hawkins how she responded, she said: 'Disbelief – I didn't actually believe that that could have been the reality.
'I assumed at first that there was another reason for it until I found out another class was affected in the same way.
'That class also, the people being removed was two children with additional support needs – one with a physical disability, in a wheelchair.
'It can be difficult for some kids with additional support needs to be focused, to stay engaged, and it can be a challenge for the school to encourage them to come and partake in those activities.'
She did praise the school for having 'worked so hard to enable Erin to have the opportunity to join her class photo' - but was incredulous about the decision by Tempest Photography's cameraman to then offer alternate versions.
Ms Pinnell told today's programme: 'It's more that they then allowed parents to choose whether they wanted Erin in or not. I'd love to know the answer to that.
'By doing this we've potentially given parents the option to erase Erin.
'If we're going for a model of inclusion in education, we have to as a society accept what that looks like.'
A boss at Tempest Photography, the firm at the centre of the scandal, has insisted the move was 'not company policy'.
Natalie Pinnell was interviewed today by GMB's Richard Madeley and Charlotte Hawkins
She told the presenters there should be more of a 'model of inclusion in education'
Terence Tempest, 70, was unable to explain why parents had been given the option - as he vowed to investigate the 'unacceptable' situation.
Speaking from his £3million riverside home near Falmouth, Cornwall, Mr Tempest said last week: 'We're heartbroken. We have released a statement but at the moment I'm just trying to find out what stimulated this and what the hell happened.
'It's just unacceptable, I don't know what's happened. It's certainly not a policy of ours.'
Asked whether he would apologise to the families involved, Mr Tempest said: 'Of course
