A highly qualified teacher has been convicted of assaulting two pupils.
Chartered teacher Richard Lewis, 45, appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court last week charged with two counts of assault by beating.
It was the Crown’s case that the defendant, of Nightingale Close, Melksham, had pushed over and stood on the chest of one teenage child before pushing another several times to the ribs in a classroom last year.
Due to reporting restrictions, which apply to both the press and the public, the school or child victims in this case cannot be named. It is a criminal offence to publish anything which could identify the victims.
It’s said the pupils were talking amongst themselves before telling Lewis they did not understand the work. They made numerous jokes directed at the teacher.
They asked for help with the work assigned to them, but Lewis is said to have replied: ‘you won’t listen anyway, you disrespectful little tw*ts’.
In reply to the teacher’s rude response, one pupil called him a ‘Jewish nonce’, whilst another said: ‘Take your Jewish *ss back to Auschwitz and burn’.
When the child then tried to leave the room, Lewis is said to have pushed them backwards and stood lightly on their chest. A second child then raised a fist towards the teacher, to defending their fellow pupil, and they were then pushed several times but managed to stay on their feet. Neither pupil suffered any lasting injuries in the incident.
The pupils then leave the room and disclose what had happened to other staff.
Defending, Lewis’ solicitor said his client had become upset and angry about the antisemitic comments being made by the pupils but accepted the assaults.
He added that the teacher, with more than 20 years’ experience, made full and frank admissions in police interview and showed a significant amount of remorse for his actions. He resigned from his job the next day.
In mitigation, it was heard the children had been misbehaving in class and this was just one of many similar incidents where antisemitic comments had been aimed at him.
He said Lewis had a previous conviction for common assault in 2011.
Magistrates adjourned the case until 19 April for a pre-sentence report to be compiled.
