Our attention has been drawn to the following article by Kevin Schofiled which first appeared in The Scotsman on 30th August 2006
A deputy headteacher who was charged with assaulting an unruly pupil, when he lifted him up after a fall, yesterday walked free - reigniting a legal debate on whether overzealous child-protection is making teachers' jobs impossible.
Simon Simpson was alleged to have injured the 11-year-old boy by dragging him across a dining-hall floor at a primary school in the east end of Glasgow.
Mr Simpson - who was suspended from his £40,000-a-year post - had denied assault, claiming he was trying to get the "aggressive" boy out of the canteen.
He was found not guilty at the city's sheriff court after the judge, Sheriff Charles McFarlane, QC, accepted the evidence of the 42-year-old and his colleagues, who backed up his version of events.
It is the latest in a long line of high- profile cases in which teachers accused of assaulting pupils have walked free from court after the evidence of their alleged victims was rejected. Mr Simpson's lawyer, Andrew Gibb, said it raised fresh questions about whether child-protection in Scotland had gone too far.
He said: "Steps need to be taken with regards to the role of teachers in schools and what they can and cannot do. Teachers have to touch children at times. Child protection has gone haywire."
The court heard that Mr Simpson's alleged victim had previously been suspended six times from the school - including once for an attack on the deputy headteacher.
The trial was told that on 22 November last year, the boy had assaulted a young asylum-seeker in the playground.
Before dealing with the incident, Mr Simpson ordered the boy to sit with him in the dining hall during lunch, but the boy became "agitated and aggressive".
He got up to leave, but the teacher blocked his path and put his hand on his shoulder to try to calm him. The pupil threw a punch at Mr Simpson and managed to get away, but walked back towards him and fell down.
Seconds later the boy claimed Mr Simpson had grabbed his arm and dragged him across the floor in front of teachers and pupils. He later said he was left with red marks on his back as a result.
Mr Simpson, of Scotstoun, Glasgow, denied any assault. He told the court: "I wanted to take him into a clear space away from other pupils. I did not drag him."
Mr Simpson was charged by police in January and later suspended. A string of his colleagues backed up his evidence during the trial.
Giving his verdict, Sheriff McFarlane said: "In the particular circumstances, what took place between you and the boy did not constitute in law an assault."
Mr Simpson, who has since returned to his post, said "This has been a difficult time for me, but I have had a lot of support from family, colleagues and the council."
Ronnie Smith, the general-secretary of Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, called on MSPs to clarify how the law applied to teachers and said pupils had become "untouchables".
He said: "As the law stands, the only safe approach is for teachers to avoid even touching a pupil. That can't be in anyone's best interests, least of all the children's."
He added: "Teachers' careers, family life and professional standing are being blighted by the authorities running scared whenever a complaint, however trivial, is raised. This is undermining good order in our schools."
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