Humayan Butt taught maths and general science at Saroti secondary school. Like me, he was a Ugandan Asian. He was very spiritual, and a born teacher: firm, but fair. He devoted as much time to pupils who were struggling as he did to those who were doing well.
As a result of a road accident, he was confined to a wheelchair, but no one ever took advantage of his adversity. We liked him and respected him hugely. We admired his resilience. He would zoom in and out of the classroom, propelling himself, and had charisma and an air of authority.
He kept discipline without resorting to corporal punishment. Other teachers might hurl board dusters at you or hit you with a stick, but troublemakers in Mr Butt’s class were taken to one side and quietly told off. He sent me out of the room once in a chemistry lesson for taking a syringe and dropping a few drops of acid on a girl’s tights so they melted. And when a gang of us was caught smoking “cigarettes” made from cotton wool wrapped in newspaper, he said nothing. But we were made to parade in front of the whole school in assembly while the head pupil explained what we had done, which had such a shaming effect we never smoked again.
My father was a governor of the school, and my three younger brothers and I had strong parental support in our studies. Among the Asian community, as well as a very strong family bond, there is a strong ethos towards education, and career choices are made early. The career I had been pushed towards, in a nice way, was medicine, so science subjects were important to me as well as being those I enjoyed.
Mr Butt taught me between the ages of 14 and 16. He took a holistic view of his pupils, looking beyond the classroom, almost in a parental way, and encouraged us to pursue other interests. If he saw a glimmer of talent in music or sport, or anything else, he would push you to develop it. He thought it was important that we were rounded individuals. He also encouraged us to compete and to want to win.
Physically, he was a big man; he was balding and wore glasses. He was always immaculately dressed. Although he saw ambition in others, he had no aspirations for promotion. He was an inspirational teacher with a sense of vocation who saw his job as performing a public service.
Uganda was a British colony at that time and I was sent to England to do my A-levels. Mr Butt warned me that to survive I would have to be tenacious, and that there would be a lot of influences that could divert me. “Remain focused on what you want to achieve,” he said, “and, God willing, you’ll come back as a doctor.”
But soon after I started doing A-level chemistry, biology and physics at Stretford technical college in Manchester (now North Trafford college of further education) my family was kicked out of Uganda by Idi Amin. They arrived penniless and I had to abandon my studies and find a job. As a stopgap I joined the police. I was sent first to Salford, which was a tough area. They had never had a Muslim police officer before, and on my first day refused to believe I was a new recruit and wouldn’t let me into the station.
Humayan Butt had instilled in me a sense of vocation and wanting to perform a public service. Although he might have been disappointed that I had joined the force, because the police in Uganda were not respected, I think he would have been proud as I rose through the ranks and became a role model for the community. I learned from him to be racially, religiously and ethnically neutral, to take people as you find them and to celebrate their differences. Power can go to your head, but thanks to Humayan Butt - and the influence of my parents - I have kept my feet firmly on the ground.
Assistant police commissioner Tarique Ghaffur was talking to Pamela Coleman
THE STORY SO FAR
1955 Born in Jinja, Uganda
1960-71 Educated at Saroti state school
1972 Comes to England
1974 Joins Greater Manchester police
1989 Promoted to superintendent and transferred to Leicestershire constabulary
1993 Awarded certificate in criminal justice education by University of Virginia; divisional commander, Leicester Central
1996 Assistant chief constable, Lancashire
1999 Deputy assistant commissioner, Metropolitan Police
2000 Borough commander, City of Westminster
2001 Appointed assistant commissioner, Metropolitan Police; receives Queen’s police medal for services to policing
