The headteacher of Mayfield School has dismissed ex-pupil Jessie J’s tales of gang crime at the Goodmayes school.
Then known as Jessica Cornish, the popstar attended the school in Pedley Road from 1999.
In an interview with Time Out magazine published today, she said: “I feel a duty to try to combat gun and knife crime and racial attacks because they happened at my school.
“I went to Mayfield, and there was a lot of gang crime.
“I don’t want to talk about gangs who may know where I am, but the things I witnessed at a young age were horrific.”
When the interviewer asked what she had seen, she declined to talk about it but said she never witnessed a stabbing.
Headteacher Andy Rehling insisted there had been no knife crime, shootings or gang violence in the time he had been at Mayfield.
He said: “To say it’s an exaggeration would be an understatement- it’s just wrong.
“I’ve been headteacher here for 11 years and I simply don’t recognise the picture she’s painted of the school then or since, and neither do staff.
“I really don’t know where she’s coming from.”
Jessie J grew up in Seven Kings and attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts in Croydon before breaking on to the music scene in 2010.
She has had number one singles including Price Tag, performed at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony and was a judge on BBC talent show The Voice.
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