The family of a boy with speech difficulties have received a financial settlement following claims the youngster strapped to a chair by his teacher. The school continues to deny the allegations
A four-year-old child with difficulties including speech, was allegedly restrained by his teacher shortly after he began the school day.
Dublin High Court judge Justice Alexander Owens called the incident a “quite extraordinary case”. He was told that a Garda investigation on the matter was discontinued following four adults’ statements which stated the boy tied himself to the chair.
The judge learned of the details after a settlement was agreed upon between the child’s mother and the school after she sued in place of her son for damages, assault and false imprisonment. The court ordered neither party to be named over the incident which the Irish Mirror reports occurred in a rural school in Ireland, September, 2018.
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The settlement was labelled as ‘without admission of liability’ by the school as they continued to deny the allegations. Judge Owens admitted he was hesitant in approving the offer, which was not shared at court, as there was a possibility that if the case was brought before a jury, it would have received more in damages.
The court received reports which spoke of the child’s speech and language difficulties, along with a list of other difficulties which included dyslexia. The judge commented, saying: “It is rather shocking that a child would be held in a chair on two days”. The judge was then shown an image of the chair, leading him to question the parents’ barrister Eanna Mulloy SC, from Callan Tansey Solicitors, why it was in the school in the first place – the chair having belt straps attached to it. The counsel responded by saying that it had been left after it was used on a previous student who had physical disabilities.
The mother of the four year old released a statement which claimed that the school staff were informed of her child’s difficulty with speech after an accident he had as a toddler. At the beginning, he was opposed to going to school and had poor sleep however, the mum chalked this down to the school being a new place.
An issue arose where the child was not allowed outside during the school break to play as he had not eaten his lunch. A meeting followed, with his teacher and a resource teacher, where his mother was informed he was not settling into his class or abiding by the school rules. The mother was also told her child had even begun to hide under the table and that the school believed him to not be ready for a school environment. She was then advised to place her son in preschool for an additional year.
Subsequently, another parent from the school reportedly called the child’s home and informed the mother that her child had been tied to the chair and that he was responding badly to it. The court heard that the parents of the child asked to be shown their son’s classroom, with the father discovering the chair with belt straps which sat by the teacher’s desk. Staff acknowledged this to be their son’s chair.
The principal allegedly responded to the parents questioning of the chair’s straps by saying that they were there to prevent the child from falling out. It was also claimed that the boy’s own teacher admitted to strapping the child into the chair for a whole hour and the entirety of another day.
The boy was successfully removed from the school and began at another where he has said to have finally settled in and adjusted to its routine.