Child charged after alleged teacher assault

Schoolboy referred to the Youth Justice Assessor following reports of attack

A 12-year-old schoolboy has been charged following an alleged assault on a teacher at a Dundee school.

Officers attended a secondary school in the city on Tuesday after receiving reports of an incident involving a child and a female member of the academic staff.

The youngster was subsequently arrested and charged and has now been referred to the Youth Justice Assessor.

Parents of children at the school have hit out at a lack of information made available following the incident and expressed their shock at the arrest.

The mother of another pupil at the secondary said: “You hear of these things happening and you know things go on in schools but it’s gone too far – it’s as if anything is fair game nowadays.

“I know schools can be rough places at times and classrooms are worse than they used to be, and that seems to be the case all over, but this isn’t just a little thing.”

The parent, who asked not to be named, added: “I’m also slightly concerned about the lack of information that’s come out about this.

“We know the police were at the school so you would think there would be some information for parents but there has been complete silence.

“They can’t tell us everything – we know that – but just something, because this was beyond the normal.”

Official figures released last year revealed a 43% rise in the number of incidents in Dundee involving attacks on staff in nurseries, primaries and secondaries.

Dundee City Council held crunch talks with Scotland’s largest teaching union, the EIS, earlier this year following a row over how to deal with violent and aggressive pupils.

The Courier reported how experienced teachers had raised concerns over “dangerous” conditions facing staff following changes to how difficult children are dealt with through the controversial alternative to exclusion scheme.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “We attended a school on Tuesday October 2 in response to a reported assault by a pupil on a teacher.

“A 12-year old-boy was subsequently charged with assault and has been referred to the Youth Justice Assessor.”

A spokesman for Dundee City Council said it would be inappropriate to comment on the matter.