Mother abuses principal

A MOTHER of four who unleashed an aggressive outburst over her children’s suspensions from school on the principal and nearby witnesses has claimed in the Warwick court that the incident was the peak of long-running tensions with her target.

Rickie-Lee Rose-Maree Facer was in the administration area at Leyburn State School on the morning of May 5, following two of her children being suspended on the same day.

Police prosecutor Andrew Grafton told the Warwick Magistrates Court that the principal was drawn to the foyer from her office after hearing Facer yelling at another person, with the 32-yearold quickly turning her rage on the school leader.

Sergeant Grafton said Facer had been asked to leave the school campus before the principal asked another person to call the police, but it did not stop the conflict escalating further.

“(Facer)’s lunged towards the victim, getting in her personal space. (She) has continued to yell towards the witness before she was directed once more to leave the school grounds,” he said.

“The assault alleged is bumping into the principal and knocking her off balance.”

He said police arrived at the scene to find both witnesses visibly distressed, and Facer was soon charged over the incident.

Duty lawyer Sarah Campbell said the mother of four was pregnant with her fifth child and had not had any issues enrolling her school-aged children at Leyburn State School until the new principal took the reins earlier this year.

She told the court that Facer claimed she had repeatedly tried to peacefully resolve her differences with the new leader.

“Unfortunately on this occasion, the school suspended two of her children on the same day.

“It related to a rule that unless they had finished schoolwork, they were unable to go eat or have a toilet break,” she said.

“These were children who had never been suspended before, they had no behavioural issues, and there was no special needs.

“My client admits she should not have gone there and engaged in the manner she did and she’s very embarrassed about her situation, but says she just lost her cool after a number of attempts to try and deal with it in a more amicable way.”

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess agreed that Facer’s outburst was never going to lead to a positive outcome, regardless of her intentions.

“It’s difficult as a parent to be objective – and of course as a parent, you go in fighting on behalf of your children – so I’m not passing any judgment here on what the background of this was,” she said.

“But if you go in angry and aggressively shouting and refusing to leave and then behaving in a violent manner, you’re not going to be able to resolve these issues in an amicable way.”

Facer pleaded guilty to one count of common assault.

She was fined $150 and no conviction was recorded.