News

A London local authority has been criticised for failing to properly prepare the carer of a boy with special needs who then went on to attack a teacher.

Ms Waugh, who was a teacher at John F Kennedy special needs school, was awarded £190,000 at the high court, following the assault by the 14-year-old which forced her to retire on the grounds of ill-health.

The court heard that Waugh had suffered moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder after the incident in which the boy, known as D, grabbed her and scratched her face drawing blood.

The 14-year-old had been statemented for special needs since he was three, and was known to suffer from severe behavioural problems including headbutting and biting.

Mr Justice Cooke exonerated the boy’s helper - who was on his first day in the job – of blame and ruled that he had been inadequately warned of how to deal with children with special needs.

He said that although the incident was an "inevitable" part of life in a special needs school, Newham council was responsible for it.

The council owed Waugh a "reasonable duty of care" to provide her with a safe place to work, and had failed to do so, he added.

In a statement, the local authority said: "The safety of our pupils, teachers and all school staff is extremely important and we are reviewing our procedures to prevent similar incidents from occurring."