Pupil attack teacher 'frustrated at lack of control'

A science teacher who battered a pupil around the head with a dumbbell had become frustrated at his inability to control his students, a court heard today.

Peter Harvey made the admission the day before he attacked the 14-year-old schoolboy at All Saints' Roman Catholic School in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in July last year.

On the third day of the teacher's trial at Nottingham Crown Court, the jury heard from his colleague in the science department, David Hopwood.

He said: "The day before the incident took place, I can remember having a conversation with him when he said he was finding it odd because, for the first time in 20 years, he was finding it difficult to keep the same order in the classroom because it had always been excellent."

Mr Hopwood, a teacher at the school for five years, added: "He was a professional really. He was really well-respected. He had good ideas for teaching lessons and he was really warm and kind - a really good bloke.

"I think there were times when he was with us in the science block and going about his business when he expressed his frustration at the children because he was finding it difficult to control them, to get them to do what he wanted."