A TEACHER has been cleared of assaulting a nine-year-old pupil at a Croydon primary school.
Mfon Itauma, 33, has accused the school of "scapegoating" her to hide its own failings after she was cleared of common assault against the boy at Croydon Magistrates' Court today (Tuesday).
Prosecuting, Ms Warner said on July 8 last year Itauma's Year Four class were coming back from a swimming lesson when the nine-year-old was tormented by another boy.
He reacted and pushed the boy to the floor, when Itauma, who started teaching at the school in December 2013, stepped in to try and separate them.
Ms Warner said Itauma grabbed the boy by the arm and took him down the corridor but he tried to run past her, and she again grabbed him and dragged him along before throwing him to the floor.
In a video of a police interview shown in court, the pupil, who the Advertiser cannot name for legal reasons, said: "We came back from swimming. I was coming upstairs and boys were being rude to me so I went downstairs to talk to the head teacher. And the teacher [Ms Itauma] pushed me right next to the stairs so I fell. I was walking the other way then and she picked me up and dropped me very hard."
CCTV footage of the incident was shown in court. The fact that the boy had challenging behaviour, but does not have a statement of special needs, was agreed by prosecution and defence. As were the facts that the fight took place and that Itauma grabbed the boy's arm.
But Ms Warner said Itauma was in a position of trust and there were other ways in which she could have dispersed the confrontation between the pupils.
"It is possible that a different tactic could have been used than the force used on that day," she said.
"The force used was in excess," she added.
Ms Warner added the pupil was distressed when he went to see the head teacher after the incident and had a red mark on his arm.
But defending Itauma, Ms Timan said the pupil had a history of violence. She said he had hurt a teaching assistant in the past, as well as the other boy in the fight.
"That was a realistic risk," said Ms Timan.
Giving evidence, Itauma said she had agreed to take over the pupil's class in April 2014. She said there were five boys in the class, including the nine-year-old, who were "infamous" in the school for having problems and "always fighting".
She agreed to take the class on the condition one of the boys moved classes and the pupil in question had a one- to-one teaching assistant. But the school struggled to arrange this.
Itauma said this happened on the day of the swimming lesson, with the boys arguing on the way to and from the lesson and fighting in the changing room.
As they returned to school, a fight broke out.
"I've got a good idea of what he is like when he is angry," said Itauma. "There's no talking to him. He is very reckless. He has no idea of his own or other safety."
Itauma said she took the pupil by the arm "to get him away" but he was wrestling with her and let his body fall to the floor.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser found Miss Itauma not guilty of common assault, saying she could not know how hard Itauma held the boy's arm, or if he threw himself on the floor.
She said: "You did act with good intentions… I have no doubt you took hold of him not as an act of aggression but to stop him going back to the fight.
"I find the case against you not proved and dismiss the charges against you. I find you not guilty."
Speaking after the verdict, Itauma branded the trial a "complete waste of time and money" and said the resources spent on the case should have gone to helping the nine-year-old.
She told the Advertiser: "He needs a lot of help and he hasn't been given that help, and I have been scapegoated because the school can't deal with him.
"He [the pupil] has had no consequences. When he is 18 and smacking people over the head with chairs he will go to prison. We haven't taught him anything."
Itauma said the school initially called the police, but have only brought a case which has "exposed their failings".
"I feel very let down by them," she said. "If he [the headteacher] got out of his office he would have known what was happening.
"I'm a newly qualified teacher it would have been okay if they had given the things they promised.
"Most of the time it's me and the teaching assistant in the class. It's all nice for everybody to get involved afterwards but then it was just me. Where was everybody then?"
Although Itauma has been legally able to work since the incident, she said no one would take her on because of the impending trial. Now her name has been cleared, she is looking forward to returning to teaching.
"It's been a very hard few months," she said.
The Advertiser has contacted the school involved in the case, for a comment on today's verdict.
