Father who confronted school principal is sorry

A parent who was aggressive and abusive to his son’s school principal has escaped a criminal conviction.

Collins Joseph (36) of Rathbraughan Park, Ballytivnan, went to St Brendan’s National School on 30 th November 2017 where his son had been attending and made allegations about the treatment of his son.

Sergeant Derek Butler told the court it was alleged that the defendant told the principal “you’ve messed with the wrong son. I’m going to get this school closed down” and put his foot in the door to prevent it being closed on him.

Joseph was “very loud and animated and pointed aggressively in the principal’s face” which made staff concerned for their safety, the court heard.

“I’m very sorry. I could have acted differently,” Joseph told Judge Kevin Kilrane and his solicitor Mr Tom MacSharry.

“You were obviously out of control. Sometimes parents do that type of thing but you’ve apologised,” said the Judge and gave Joseph the benefit of the Probation Act.