Teacher to be charged with biting boy aged 4

A teacher is to be prosecuted for allegedly biting a four-year-old boy to teach him a lesson for biting another child.

Mary-Ann Woodeson, a teacher at Stretton School in Norwich, said she had placed the boy's arm to her mouth as a lesson after she caught him biting another pupil on 11 July.

The boy's parents contacted the police after finding teeth marks on his skin and Ms Woodeson offered to resign. The school admitted yesterday that the teacher's teeth marks were left on the boy's arm but said the contact had been accidental.

Ms Woodeson was given a written warning by the school's head and founder, Yvonne Barnett, who is her mother.

Ms Barnett said her daughter was only pretending to bite the boy, and her teeth had accidentally come into contact with his arm when he had suddenly pulled away. She said: "We feel it has been blown up out of all proportion." The boy had a history of biting, she added, and had been given a warning about his conduct,.

Ms Woodeson, who has worked at the fee-paying nursery school for 20 years, will appear at Norwich magistrates' court on a date to be fixed.