Angry father assaulted teacher for calling son 'short', court told

A father has been fined and handed a suspended sentence after he admitted to threatening and assaulting a teacher who had teased his son for being short.

Inspector Christabel Chetcuti arraigned Joseph Bondin, 34, from Cospicua, accusing him of assaulting and slightly injuring his son’s male teacher at St Margaret's School in Cospicua on 13 November.

Bondin was also accused of threatening the man and misusing telecommunications equipment to do so. A charge of recidivism was dropped in court after it emerged that his previous convictions, for driving offences, had occurred too long ago to be taken into consideration.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras warned the accused that he faced a fine of up to €23,000 on the charges.

The police inspector explained that the victim was the teacher of the man's son. The police had been informed by the headmaster that Bondin had physically attacked a teacher on Monday.

The arraignment happened today because the accused had been admitted to hospital for reasons unrelated to the incident. Bondin was arrested upon discharge yesterday and was released on police bail for health reasons.

In court, Bondin apologised for his actions. His lawyer Maxilene Ellul explained that her client was angry because the teacher had embarrased the child by calling him short, a comment which had led to the boy being bullied. He denied striking the man, but pleaded guilty to the charges in the circumstances.

Ellul entered a guilty plea and suggested a punishment close to the minimum, due to the nature of the case.

The court handed Bondin a five-month prison sentence, suspended for two years together with a €2,500 fine. He was ordered not to approach the teacher under a two-year protection order.