A DEPARTMENT for Education adviser told a jury she repeatedly expressed concerns about Sajid Hussain Raza’s abilities both in setting up a flagship Bradford free school and as head teacher after its opening .

Ann Connor said Raza was bright, ambitious, determined and articulate, but in the months before the opening she found he was not putting in place the structures needed for the new Kings Science Academy, of which he was the founder.

Yesterday, Miss Connor told Leeds Crown Court, where Raza and two others deny fraud, that on occasions he did not listen to her advice and on others was rude and dismissive.

An education advisor contracted to the Department since 2001, she said she and a civil service colleague Lindsey Henning were allocated to work on the free school project in October 2010 to “ensure everything is in place for the opening.”

She said she would normally supply a list of jobs to be done from an education point of view. She met Sajid Hussain Raza and one of the trustees at a unit on an industrial estate to begin that process, since at that point there was no school building.

He outlined his proposals. “I didn’t think they were developed sufficiently to open the school, I didn’t think he had sufficient depth of understanding what needed to be put into place to open a new school.”

She said he was vague about what he wanted to achieve.

Asked by Simon Kealey, prosecuting, what Raza’s attitude was to being challenged about his proposals, she said she found him relaxed. “I thought his manner was dismissive, sitting back in his chair.”

She said people starting a new school were usually keen and willing to discuss everything. “This was the first time I had started a new school project and the proposers were quite dismissive of anything I had to say.”

Miss Connor said the job of principal was one of the things discussed and because she was aware he was being put forward to that position, she felt she should talk about it to the trustee without Raza being there.

He was asked to leave the room and, when he returned, she indicated that the post would be advertised in the appropriate educational press and told him he would be able to apply.

“His response was to pick up his mobile phone and to say words to the effect ‘We’ll see what Michael has to say about this shall we.’ “ Asked what she thought he meant, Miss Connor said: “I assumed it was Mr Michael Gove, the then secretary of state for Education and I assumed Sajid had his phone number I suppose.”

She said in fact he made no call in her presence, but subsequently she was told there would be no advert placed. “I was told to back off.”

She told the jury there were further meetings as the months progressed but they seemed to focus on money and buildings. At times she said Raza seemed to pluck figures “out of the air.”

She said subsequently she was told he should be put through an interview process for the job of head teacher and was present at that.

At that, he mentioned having written a five year budget for the school and when she pointed out that it had been rejected by the Department, she said Daud Khan, who was also on the panel appeared surprised.

She told the jury after the interview she discussed his deficiencies with those on the panel and she told the trustees she would support his appointment “if he went through a developmental training programme.”

She arranged for him to spend a day with seven different heads of free schools or academies to be guided what was needed but he never did it.

He was required to produce an education brief which was effectively an operations manual but when she and her colleague attended a meeting with him he had not done it. His attitude to them was “dismissive and rude.”

She said she had concerns all the time about his lack of preparation and “of skill and expertise” in the setting up process and “repeatedly” sent e-mails to the DfE about that.

After Kings Science Academy opened, she was still concerned and requested to visit it a couple of months later.

She told the jury she had “a bizarre meeting” with Raza in which he kept flipping information from his laptop on to a wall which she found she could not read and did not show her the documents she would have expected such as test results. “He couldn’t show me anything.”

As a result of that she sent a report to the DfE with a copy to the Trust and Raza expressing “serious concerns about the school.” She said she found it “extraordinary” that the Governors did not appear to have met for seven months.

Raza, his sister Shabana Hussain who was a teacher and Daud Khan, the financial director are all standing trial accused of fraud.

The prosecution claim they diverted money intended for the school and that false documents were created to cover their tracks.

Raza, 43, of Spring Gardens Road, Heaton, Bradford denies four counts of fraud, three counts of false accounting and two of obtaining money transfer by deception.

Hussain, 40 of Wilmer Road, Heaton, Bradford, denies one charge of fraud and three of false accounting. Khan, 44, of Thornhill Place, Thornbury, denies two counts of fraud and three of false accounting.

Under cross-examination by Ben Hargreaves representing Raza, Miss Connor denied she had a difference of opinion with him because he was trying to do something innovative “that was alien to you.”

She said: “There was a difference of opinion on his leadership.” She agreed she believed a better candidate could have been found if the principal’s job was advertised.

“You were told from people above you in the Department that basically this was a done deal and Sajid was going to get the school and you didn’t like it,” he said.

“It wasn’t my choice to,” she replied.

Under cross-examination by Nick Worsley, representing Khan, she agreed she had found Raza “arrogant and dismissive” of her work.

He suggested one example of that was when Sajid made the comment about Michael an overt reference to Mr Gove. “He assumed the job of principal was automatically his and would brook no challenge to it,” said Mr Worsley.

“That’s my understanding yes,” she replied.

She agreed the normal advertising procedures were by-passed.

“Lord Hill, the Minister for schools indicated he could be appointed once he had an interview was that paying lip service to the process because there was no competition,” he asked.

“I don’t know I would describe it as lip service, it was probably a back stop position,” she said.

The trial continues.