Parent is cleared of assaulting teachers

Sheriff not satisfied by the quality of evidence given by the two teachers involved

A parent has been cleared of assaulting two teachers during a dispute in a Perth and Kinross school.

The school’s head and another teacher had accused a woman of striking them in an argument over school jotters.

After a two-day trial, a sheriff said she was unconvinced by the quality of the teaching staff’s evidence.

During the trial the accused claimed teachers at the school, and the head in particular, had a vendetta against her because of past complaints she had made.

She accused those who gave evidence against her of inventing the assault charges as a means of getting back at her.

The woman was found not guilty of assaulting two teachers by striking them on October 7 2016.

However, she was found guilty of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner likely to cause fear and alarm within a classroom.

Witnesses told the trial the accused had barged into her child’s classroom on the final day of term to seize jotters and assault their class teacher and headteacher.

Pupils had already left for the day when the 42-year-old attended to take home her son’s jotters in order to enable them to be used during extra lessons with a tutor.

Numerous requests had apparently been turned down by the school for reasons the woman said she could not comprehend.

The court heard the accused had entered into a “tug-of-war” over a jotter with the headteacher.

The headteacher said she had been concerned for the safety of her staff during the incident.

The witness told the court: “She was not acting rationally and she was quite threatening in her behaviour.

“She then lifted her arm and hit one of the teachers on the arm and as she moved past, on her way out of the classroom, that is when she hit me.”

The accused said: “I have no idea why they have accused me of assault. I can only think they didn’t like the fact that I had made complaints about the school.”

The woman accepted she ought not to have been in the classroom after school and said she regretted what had happened.

Sheriff Gillian Wade said: “This was obviously a very unfortunate incident.

“You caused an incident that resulted in three teaching professionals becoming upset and fearful for the consequences, though nothing particular did occur other than jotters being taken.

“I am not, however, satisfied that the two charges of assault are proved and not satisfied by the quality of the evidence given by witnesses.

“Their accounts did not support one another.”

The accused was admonished in connection with a charge of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner.

Perth and Kinross Council declined to comment.