Teacher cleared of assault wins fight to save career
ADEDICATED Welsh teacher cleared by the courts of clipping a rowdy pupil over the head with a book will be able to return to her career.
Regina Hungerford, 56, admitted shouting and slamming a book on the desk of the “provocative and disruptive” teenager as he listened to rap music in her classroom – but always denied hitting his head.
She was cleared on appeal after being charged with assaulting Shane Jenkins, then 17, during her mathematics lesson for pupils with learning difficulties. But a disciplinary hearing of the Education Workforce Council decided Mrs Hungerford had “acted in an inappropriate way” – and ruled she was guilty of professional misconduct.
Widowed mother-of-three Mrs Hungerford pleaded to save her “very rewarding” career after 29 years, teaching thousands of children.
The £26,000-a-year teacher admitted shouting and slamming down a notebook next to Mr Jenkins at Merthyr Tydfil College in Merthyr Tydfil.
Mrs Hungerford, a qualified Girl Guides leader, told the hearing: “I always said that losing my temper wasn’t very professional.”
She told how the allegations had “ruined her life” and were a “miscarriage of justice”, but wanted to save her career.
She was suspended from the teaching register for four months – but was told she can return after taking a behaviour management course.
Former colleague Tanya Davies told the hearing: “I found her to be reliable, conscientious, enthusiastic, patient and kind and was respected by her pupils. She was a good and tolerant teacher and I never saw her lose her temper.”
Mr Jenkins, now 19, was referred to as Pupil A in the Cardiff hearing.
He gave evidence to the hearing over the phone. He said: “The teacher was late coming into class and I was using headphones. I refused to turn my phone off because she was late. She lost her temper and picked up the book and hit me in the head with it. She can be quite nasty sometimes when she wants to be.”
Mrs Hungerford was originally found guilty of common assault by magistrates – but appealed to the Crown court, where the conviction was quashed last December.
Mrs Hungerford, who taught maths and German at the college for 14 years, was then separately accused of unacceptable professional conduct by her professional body.
But she appeared before the Education Workforce Council “fitness to practise” hearing in a second bid to clear her name and reputation.
Her lawyer, Adam Ohringer, told the hearing: “She was being needled by the boy and she was unwell and running a temperature, which was later diagnosed as a chest infection.
“It was an unhappy combination of a provocative student displaying most challenging behaviour and a teacher coming down with a chest infection. She readily accepts she lost her temper in response to his behaviour. She slammed the notebook down on the desk as a sign of her anger. It is something she regrets, but as far as she can say she didn’t make contact with him and certainly didn’t intend to make contact with him.
“It is very unlikely that a long-serving teacher of years of experiencing extremely challenging students would suddenly out of the blue strike a student. Her account of the incident is clear, honest and believable, while the evidence against her is contradictory. She agreed she lost her temper and responded with anger but her response was to throw her notebook onto Pupil A’s desk and there’s no evidence that contact was made with him.”
Two classsroom assistants gave evidence about what happened in the classroom – but Mr Ohringer pointed out that it “differed and was inconsistent”.
He said that Mr Jenkins’ version of events “cannot be given much weight at all and he was not a reliable witness”.
Council case presenter Carys Williams – referring to student Mr Jenkins as Pupil A – said: “He had been playing with his mobile phone and was causing disruption.
“Mrs Hungerford accepts she shouted at him and slammed a notebook in front of him but she denied any physical contact. But our case is that she entirely lost her temper, shouted at him and hit him with the notebook, making contact with his head or his hand.
“He had raised both hands in order to defend himself.”
Imposing the ban, panel chairman Gareth Roberts said: ‘There was a momentary lapse of control and in that moment Mrs Hungerford acted in breach of teaching principles.
“It put at risk the public trust in the profession and her conduct fell far short of the standard expected of a registered teacher. Pupil A’s behaviour was difficult to manage but we have concluded she acted in an inappropriate way.”
He said that on the balance of probabilities she had made physical contact with the pupil.
Mr Roberts said Mr Jenkins’ evidence was “far from satisfactory” but “in general terms it was credible.”
Mrs Hungerford agreed to go on a behaviour management course before returning to teaching.
Mr Roberts said the four-month suspension was an appropriate sanction to “allow her to return to teaching within a short time”.