Teacher cleared of student assault
Updated on 02 December 2008
A teacher has been acquitted of assaulting a 13-year-old girl during a design and technology lesson.
Robert Williamson was accused of hitting the pupil's hand, which had undergone a number of operations as a result of a scalding accident when she was two. The latest operation was a month before the alleged incident at a Devon college on June 9.
Mr Williamson, of Fern Road, Newton Abbot, Devon, denied assaulting the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and told the court it was not made clear she had a problem with her hand.
The 63-year-old said the pupil was about to drill a hole in a plastic clock face but was not holding the material firmly. He told Torbay Magistrates he put his hands on her hand to stop the plastic spinning as it could have caused an injury.
Chairman of the bench, Justine Merry, said: "Mr Williamson is a man with nothing to hide. He didn't realise or have knowledge of her hand problems.
"We find that this was an intentional act by Mr Williamson in that he wanted to prevent an accident to a pupil."
After the hearing, Mr Williamson said he would be consulting the National Union of Teachers (NUT) about possible action against his former school, which he claims did not support him.
"I feel I have been let down," he said. "This should never have gone this far and wouldn't if a little common sense had been used."
He said he hopes to return to teaching as a supply teacher.
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