Teacher is cleared of assaulting girl after evidence discredited

Christopher Scott, 33, who could have been jailed and struck off the register of the General Teaching Council of Scotland, was found not guilty yesterday after a trial that heard three days of evidence.

Mr Scott – who had taught at ten primary schools in nine-and-a-half years since becoming a teacher – had been accused of turning on the “moody” child after being brought in to cover at her West Stirlingshire school in September 2010 because of rising class numbers.

Mr Scott, a devout Christian, was accused of grabbing her arm and twisting the skin, tipping her off her chair, and tripping her up, on a series of occasions between then and March 2011.

The girl, who gave evidence in tears over a video link, claimed he used to “hurt her a lot”, leaving what she insisted looked like burn marks and finger marks on her upper arms.

She said: “He used to grab my arm and it would hurt. He would pull at it, holding it really tight. He did this a lot of times.”

A classmate said he used to tell the class to “turn away” before he assaulted the girl, and spoke of seeing him give her a Chinese burn.

The headteacher, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the girl’s behaviour had deteriorated from just a month after Mr Scott arrived. It had changed from a little moodiness, escalating into not complying, sitting on the cupboard, banging her heels, leaving the class before it finished, and being tearful.

The girl also had issues about PE – she did not want her legs to been seen, did not want to take part, and said she had problems with her kit. Mr Scott was one of the PE teachers.

According to other evidence, he would often get angry, go red in the face and shout at his class. He became “very angry” when the girl at the centre of the allegations would not do her work.

But Mr Scott, a father of three from Braco, Perthshire, who had denied assault, claimed the allegations were all the result of a “vendetta” by the headteacher and said his alleged victim and her classmates were lying.

He told his solicitor that within a week at the school, the girl had begun causing him concern – refusing to do what he asked, refusing to complete tasks and refusing to comply generally.

He said he attempted numerous “teaching strategies” to deal with her behaviour, such as giving her praise and asking other staff members for advice.

He admitted he had occasionally shouted at her out of “anger and frustration”.

But when asked if he had ever laid a hand on her, he replied: “Certainly not. If I laid my hand on a pupil I could be dismissed.”

He added: “It is abhorrent to think I would do that to a child.

“ I was very angry when the allegations were made. I got a call from the head of education saying ‘allegations had been made’, and I would be suspended pending an investigation.”

He said it was not until the following month that he was told what the allegations.

During cross-examination by depute fiscal Emma Whyte, he was asked to explain the girl’s bad behaviour, and why it got worse that year.

He said: “I think she reacted badly to having a male teacher.”

Finding him not guilty, Sheriff Wyllie Robertson said the case had been was a “difficult to resolve”. The sheriff said he had unease about the testimony of all three pupils who gave evidence in the case as they were “good friends”, and they all spoke of separate alleged attacks.

He said he did not attach a “badge of credibility” to the schoolgirl’s evidence.

Leaving court surrounded by supporters, who cheered as the verdict was read, Mr Scott said: “I’m glad it’s all over. It’s been hanging over me since March.”