London -
A student knocked a teacher unconscious - but the school asked police not to investigate for fear of “criminalising” the culprit.
Jane Breeze, 42, was badly hurt when a pupil dropped an unopened can of Coca-Cola on to her head from a fourth floor window.
The history teacher was left unresponsive and bleeding heavily.
But when she regained consciousness in hospital, she learned officers had already been told not to investigate.
The decision came under the School Crime Beat Protocol, an official policy backed by the Labour-run Welsh Government to “avoid criminalising young people”.
It gives headteachers the discretion to rule that a range of violent and threatening behaviour at school should not be treated as a crime.
At least 777 incidents - such as assaults, cyber-bullying, criminal damage, racism and drugs offences - were dealt with in this way in one year, police records show.
A Tory MP voiced fears that the policy was being used to “cover up” serious issues and called for it to be reviewed.
Mrs Breeze was struck by the drink can as she walked to her classroom at Croesyceiliog School in Cwmbran, South Wales, on Friday morning.
She was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, and a member of the school’s management team told her police had been “informed”.
But she later discovered that senior teachers had in fact instructed officers to leave the matter to them.
Police only launched a formal investigation after Mrs Breeze complained such a serious incident should not be treated as simple bad behaviour.
David Davies, the MP for Monmouth, condemned the school’s “outrageous” decision.
He said: “I’m very concerned that this decision appears to have been taken as a result of some Welsh Government guidance aimed at not criminalising young people.
“I can understand the principle of not involving the police if a pupil has nicked a bag of crisps or got into an argy-bargy in the school yard, but not reporting such a serious incident for investigation is, in my view, irresponsible and wrong.
“It sends out entirely the wrong message about an assault which could have had fatal consequences. It should not have been left to the teacher herself or me as her MP to contact the police and call for an inquiry.”
The police investigation was launched on Monday, by which time pupils and teachers had gone away for half term.
Gwent Police confirmed to Mr Davies that the school had told the force not to carry out an inquiry. A senior officer wrote in an email: “The initial direction from the school was that they would deal with the incident under the School Crime Beat Protocol.
“That is, that they would take primacy for the investigation and subsequent outcome within the school discipline procedure, and that the police would take no formal action.”
Colin Adkins, of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said: “It beggars belief the school would think this is a matter they could deal with internally.It raises the question of what action they were going to take against the pupil.”
David Evans, Wales Secretary for the National Union of Teachers, said: “Teachers don’t necessarily want to go down the route of criminalising a pupil in respect of a more minor incident. But this isn’t a minor incident. It is a very serious one.”
Mrs Breeze, who has taught history at the comprehensive for 17 years, is recovering at home in Abergavenny. She said she could not comment because of the investigation.
The School Crime Beat Protocol was designed by the Welsh Government and Wales’s four police forces. Officers recorded 3 011 incidents at schools in 2011-12 - of which 777 were dealt with via “restorative justice”, which often involves victims confronting offenders.
Gwent Police said it was investigating an allegation of assault. No arrests have been made. The Croesyceiliog School’s chair of governors Colin Crick said: “The school contacted the police on Friday morning regarding the incident, which took place at 8.35am and was logged by the police at 9.32am. The acting head spoke to the teacher on the day to provide advice and to offer our full support. As this is being dealt with by Gwent Police it would be inappropriate to comment any further.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said it was a matter for the school and local authority to comment on.
Daily Mail