THE head boy of a Bournemouth school has been excluded after being caught kissing a girl on a trip with the army.

Karl Brown, 19, from Oakmead Technology College, was sent home from Chepstow after being found with the girl, 17, from another school, outside the compound a few minutes after curfew.

Karl and his parents are furious the school took such drastic action against a pupil who has “never been in trouble”.

“They are making a mountain out of a molehill. The punishment does not fit the crime,” said father, Bernard Brown, from West Cliff.

Karl, a striker for the school football team, told the Daily Echo he went on a five-day army course for his BTEC National Certificate in Uniform Public Service.

He said he was due back inside the compound at 10.45pm, but at 10.50pm the army found him about 10 steps from the entrance hugging and kissing the girl.

He said he was sent home on a train – only to discover when he arrived that the school thought he had been found in a darkened room with the girl.

He was given a form of permanent exclusion which means he can only come to school at certain appointed times and not attend normal lessons.

Karl said: “[The school has] taken it to such a high level. The girl went back to her college in Chippenham and it was all a joke. It’s ridiculous.”

An army spokesman told the Daily Echo: “The course organisers confirmed he was found outside in an unlit compound.”

Mum Julia, a healthcare worker from Queens Park, said the army had told her from the start that Karl had been outside with the girl.

She said: “He knows it was wrong to be outside. But the school didn’t seem to understand what had actually happened.”

His father said that after they protested, the school checked with the army and has received a fax backing Karl’s account, and contradicting what staff had been saying.

The school was due to meet the family today.

Permanent exclusion

A spokesman for Bournemouth council said it would not be appropriate to comment until after the investigation had finished.

The school has given Karl a form of permanent exclusion for the rest of the academic year.

He can only attend school once a fortnight to meet his teacher on the public service course.

He has to complete his business studies coursework at home and email it in, and attend a fortnightly tutorial.

The school wrote: “Karl will need to attend at these times only and must sign in and out at reception.”