A deputy headteacher has been cleared of pushing a 10-year-old pupil to the floor and making his nose bleed.
Chris Falconer, who taught at a school in Moray, faced being struck off after he was accused of repeatedly pushing the boy on to a chair, pushing him to the floor and pushing his face into the floor.
The veteran teacher was cleared by police and the council, but the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) claimed that Mr Falconer was unfit to teach as a result of the incident in May last year.
At a hearing this week, the 6ft 2in teacher accepted the incident “could have been handled better” but denied the charges, and successfully argued it was an accident.
The watchdog heard the teacher – who had three decades of experience in the profession – had been friendly with the boy after bonding over a love of sports.
The boy, who has behavioural problems, gave evidence via video link, telling the hearing he was stopped from playing with a football indoors one day by Mr Falconer.
The boy then said he made a sarcastic remark which he claimed made Mr Falconer angry. The boy said he was pushed into his chair by the teacher and, in anger, started punching the door and cabinet.
He told the panel: “Then he grabbed me by my shoulder and he threw me, and I either hit my face when he threw me or he threw me and he hit my face into the floor.”
But Mr Falconer denied the boy’s version of events, and said: “Pupil A was hammering away on the door and the filing cabinet. I’m quite famous for being quiet so I very quietly told him to stop and it seemed to make it worse.
“I was hoping he would calm down given time. I decided to loosen my grip to see if that would pacify him.
“It had the opposite effect. He then started to flail his arms around and he made a move towards the door. I tried to stop him and basically landed on top of him on the floor.”
At the end of the hearing, the panel decided that the charges were not proven.
Mr Falconer’s lawyer said after the hearing: “He is extremely relieved and delighted with the result of the panel, having had an opportunity to explain his position.”
Moray Council issued a statement following a report of the incident last year in which they stated: “In this case separate and thorough investigations were carried out by the police and the council and found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the member of staff.”