Mother wants harsher penalty in bully case

A mother whose daughter was allegedly assaulted at a West Auckland high school has started a petition calling for her bully to be stood down.

Jasmine MacGibbon is calling on the Ministry of Education to bring in harsher penalties for school bullies after a student who she said assaulted her daughter at Rutherford College was given a five-day suspension before being allowed back to school.

MacGibbon’s daughter is too frightened to return to school and the family is considering home-schooling her.

Police are making ongoing inquiries into the assault on school grounds, a police spokesperson confirmed. The ministry said it could not comment while the investigation was under way.

The 14-year-old student was leaving her English class on July 24 when another student approached her, MacGibbon told the Herald. She said her daughter was punched in the head, then had her hair grabbed and was thrown on the ground. Her daughter was left with two bumps on her head, blurred vision, a sore spine, tailbone and ribs, she said.

Several other students had witnessed the assault and said it was unprovoked, MacGibbon said.

The family laid a complaint with police and appealed to the Board of Trustees and Ministry of Education to expel the girl. They also applied for a restraining order.

Principal Gary Moore said the mother had laid a formal complaint with the school’s Board of Trustees so he could not comment fully about the situation until that process was completed. He did, however, say they had sought advice from police.