'Bullying' teachers admit to taping girl, seven, to chair
A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD was Sellotaped to her chair for 10 minutes in front of mocking classmates as part of a campaign of cruelty by a bullying teacher and her assistant, a court heard.
The child also had Post-it notes taped to her thumbs to stop her sucking them, was locked in a storeroom, had her shoes tied to her feet and was “goaded” for failing to finish work.
Teacher Deborah McDonald, 41, and classroom assistant Rachael Regan, 43, admit taping the girl to the chair but deny causing cruelty to a person under 16.
The girl was “singled out and bullied” by the pair between September 2012 and January 2013 at a primary school in Calderdale, West Yorks, Bradford Crown Court heard.
Simon Waley, prosecuting, claimed from November 2012 the girl began telling her mother she did not like her teacher, explaining about the Post-it notes and her feet being bound.
She had told her she had been tied to a chair with Sellotape by a teacher
He added: “She [the mother] described an occasion when at school collection time the girl had run out crying. She had told her she had been tied to a chair with Sellotape by a teacher. She said she could not move. She said she was the ‘class clown’.”
When the girl’s mother contacted the school, police were called in. When interviewed by officers about the Sellotape incident, the young girl said “that Mrs Regan had put it all around the chair” and that “it was hard breathing”.
She added that “she couldn’t get out to reach her things and the whole class were laughing”.
The child also told police about the string being tied on her pumps, claiming again that “everybody had been laughing”, the prosecutor claimed.
Mr Waley added: “She also described an occasion when Mrs Regan had put her chair in the storeroom and had shut the door leaving her inside.” The jury was told a support assistant was present when the girl was taped to the chair, and remembered that her arms were fastened by her sides.
“She indicates the girl was taped to the chair for more than 10 minutes,” said Mr Waley. “Overall, the staff member felt the girl was being singled out and bullied by these defendants on a regular basis.”
The court was also told how another classroom assistant at the school had received a Christmas calendar from McDonald with pictures and comments about the girl.
Regan, of Halifax, told police the girl was a “cheeky monkey” who had been fidgety on the day of the Sellotape incident, which she dismissed as “light-hearted”.
Mr Waley said: “She was asked if she should have used the Sellotape and she said that, in hindsight, she shouldn’t have done it but she thought it was going to be a bit of fun.”
McDonald, also of Halifax, admitted to police taping the girl to the chair “in hindsight was not an advisable”. Mr Waley said: “The prosecution say they wilfully ill-treated her.”
The trial continues.
