Anger after parent who tried to butt teacher avoids jail

Teachers' leaders have condemned a magistrate's decision not to jail a violent father who attacked his son's headteacher. They said the case sent the wrong message to parents.

Shawn Gladding, 36, admitted storming into Angel Road Middle School in Norwich, pinning the headteacher to a wall and trying to butt him.

The children were left terrified and crying with some taking refuge in a small side room. Mr Gladding released the headteacher after the deputy head and another teacher intervened, Norwich magistrates' court was told yesterday. Gladding said he was angry because the school had not done enough to tackle the alleged bullies of his nine-year-old son.

The court ruled the assault was less serious because the headteacher had managed to move his head out of the way of the attack.

Frazer Morrison, the stipendiary magistrate, told the father it had been a "disgraceful piece of behaviour" and added: "If you had struck him, you'd be going to jail now."

The school secretary said she had never witnessed such a "violent and abusive" incident in her 14 years at the school.

Gladding's son was suspended after the incident on 21 February but soon returned to school and has not reported any bullying since.

Gladding, a window welder, was sentenced to an evening curfew for four months and to 180 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay £60 costs.

But teachers' leaders said the decision to show leniency gave the wrong impression, particularly as, earlier this year, Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, announced a crackdown on violent parents. She urged magistrates to impose maximum penalties, including jail terms.

Doug McAvoy, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "I am appalled at this decision. A clear message has to be given that assaults on teachers are not acceptable in any way.

"Teachers have to be able to go about their work without living in fear of attacks by parents."

John Dunford, the general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said: "The court lost an opportunity to demonstrate how severely it should deal with such serious offences. We saw with the Patricia Amos case [the mother jailed for allowing her daughters to play truant] the extent to which you can change parents' perceptions of what is acceptable using the courts."

Richard White, for the prosecution, told the court Leonard Holman, the headteacher, had been supervising a group of pupils aged eight to 12 after school when Gladding arrived with his son. The father used "foul and abusive language" and was "spitting with rage". He pushed Mr Holman against a wall and tried to butt him but Mr Holman managed to move his head. Gladding's face was less than a centimetre away.

Phil Mansfield, for the defence, said Gladding realised he had set a bad example and apologised for the incident.