Mr Robbins was Jenny Bradley's college adviser when she enrolled on an environmental studies course at Manchester Polytechnic in the autumn of 1989. By October 1990, Jenny was paying scant attention to her studies and Mr Robbins summoned her in to see him, just after the start of the second year. He berated her for missing the first week of classes and not passing in her dissertation. With a history of poor attendance and work, he told her that she'd used up all of her chances. Despite her pleas, he threw her off the course.