THE incoming vice chancellor at the University of Sussex has moved to deal with a growing crisis over the institution's handling of a lecturer who attacked his student girlfriend.

Adam Tickell spoke up amid growing calls for university chiefs to be held to account over the decision to allow Dr Lee Salter to continue teaching between his arrest and sentencing for beating Allison Smith.

Tweeting a statement about the scandal from the university, Mr Tickell, who starts next month, said he would appoint a deputy pro-vice chancellor for equalities, with a "wide brief" across the university.

He added he had "committed to work with the [student union] on committed and healthy relationships."

Meanwhile employment experts told The Argus they could see no reason why the university could not have taken more immediate action.

Media lecturer Salter, 40, of Aberdeen Road, Brighton, met Ms Smith during induction week and they started a relationship. But last September he punched her, knocked her out, and threw salt on her face. He has appealed his convictions for assault and criminal damage.

In the ten months between his arrest and sentence in July, he continued to teach at the university.

Yesterday Ms Smith told The Argus the steps the university had taken were not enough.

Sam Dickinson, associate solicitor at Mayo Wynne Baxter, specialising in employment law, said in general there was normally no reason in employment law why an employee could not be suspended upon arrest.

“Suspension is a neutral act which does not presume any wrongdoing on the part of the employee and this seems to be a situation in which suspension would be entirely appropriate,” she said.

She added it was unlikely the employee could lodge a grievance about suspension in such circumstances as long as the suspension was carried out properly, including without outsiders knowing the reason for it.

Ms Dickinson said there was equally no reason why an employee could not be dismissed upon criminal conviction, regardless of whether the employee was appealing the conviction.

She added: “As a matter of employment law, an employer does not have to wait until the outcome of criminal charges have been decided."

A spokesman for Acas, the dispute resolution service, told The Argus that as soon as an allegation of criminal violence is made, an employer should carry out their own investigation into the matter and follow a fair and impartial disciplinary process.

He added: "Employers also have a duty to protect victims who have experienced violence in the workplace."

The university said this weekend Dr Salter had left his post, adding he did not have any contact with students after his conviction.

It has promised to review its procedures.

VICTIM: I SPOKE OUT TO PROTECT OTHER WOMEN

LIKE most students, Allison Smith was no doubt full of hope and expectation when she attended her induction day.

Amid the buzz of the University of Sussex hall, Ms Smith, now a 24-year-old freelance writer and master’s student, met a media lecturer with a high profile at the university.

Dark-haired Dr Lee Salter was a prizewinning filmmaker who had had articles published in high-end publications including the New Statesman.

His 2013 documentary Secret City, investigating the corporation that runs the City of London, won an award at the Independent Film Festival in 2013.

Earlier he had worked as a legal and political researcher with Lord Glasman, Rev William Taylor and John McDonnell MP to oppose a bill brought forward by the corporation on electoral reform.

Salter was teaching in Ms Smith’s department, although he was not her tutor, and the pair struck up a relationship.

But not long into it, he became violent as she tried to comfort him one night last September.

He punched her in the face, knocked her out and stamped on her and threw a container of salt in her face.

She faced further torment when he denied the charges, pleading not guilty in January this year to assault and criminal damage.

And she was horrified when the university appeared to stick by him, allowing him to carry on in his post – a decision some experts found hard to understand.

“They would have been in a position of having someone who was denying all of it, which is why I am guessing they have only taken action after his conviction,” said Brian Warren, HR consultant at Quick HR in Hove.

“But it is not the way I would have handled it.”

It was only this weekend, nearly two months after Salter was convicted and amid huge criticism, that the university announced he no longer worked for it.

It stressed that since his conviction, which he is appealing against, Salter did not have any contact with students and that it was reviewing all procedures Faced with the apparent inaction by the university, Ms Smith decided to speak out, telling The Argus yesterday that the steps the university had taken were not enough.

She said: “The reason I spoke out was to help protect students and women he was teaching.

“Now it’s important the university works hard to review the policies that failed to protect students.

“They must take violence against women seriously. It shouldn’t have taken 10 months, a public outcry, a petition started by a Sussex student and sharing extremely personal feelings for these changes to be made.”

She said she had been overwhelmed by messages of support, adding: “I really didn’t expect that. I was beyond anxious seeing the coverage but the response gave me hope.

“People sharing their own experiences made me realise how important it was to have shared my own.”

Salter was given a 22-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, as well as 150 hours’ unpaid work and a restraining order.