Teaching assistant David Johnson cleared of assault

Nov 4 2009 by Neil McKay, The Journal

Mr Johnson told the boy to move his head and kicked the door shut, when it trapped the boy’s finger, breaking it. One girl, now 15, who gave evidence described the injured boy’s behaviour as “really rude and quite cocky”.

She said: “Sir shouted for him to move his head and he kicked the door shut. A clock fell off the wall when the door slammed shut. The clock was above Sir’s head. I heard a scream and crying then I took a panic attack at the site of the blood.”

The girl said she got on well with Mr Johnson, who used to give up his spare time to coach basketball at the school.

Another girl pupil said Mr Johnson seemed “a bit angry” when the boy got up and began to walk towards the door, ignoring his requests to sit back down at his desk.

She said when he realised he had jammed the boy’s finger he “looked really shocked. He sat down for a minute then went to check if we were OK. One girl had a panic attack at the sight of the blood”.

Judge Evans told the jury Mr Johnson was guilty of “negligence at worst” by kicking the door shut, but added that he was satisfied he had not set out to injure the boy, and described what had happened as “similar to a parent inadvertently trapping a child’s finger in the car of a door when slamming it shut.”