High schoolteacher from Sydney’s southwest sentenced for placing cord around child’s neck

A Sydney high school teacher is being investigated by the Education Department after she placed an electrical cord around a child’s neck, scratched their face and called them an ableist slur.

The 46-year-old woman pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.

A southwest Sydney high school teacher is being investigated by the Department of Education after she placed an electrical cord around a child’s neck, scratched their face and called them an ableist slur.

The woman aged in her 40s, who can’t be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced to a conditional release order for two years without conviction.

In documents tendered to Liverpool Local Court, the woman yelled at the child about cardboard they had placed in the bin about 1pm on April 15.

The woman continued to yell at the child while they walked to the front yard with the cardboard and placed it in the bin.

On their return, the child closed the back door to prevent anyone from hearing the commotion from the woman, according to police facts.

The 46-year-old woman pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.

“The woman stated words to the effect of ‘it doesn’t matter because (people) know you’re a r****d anyway’,” the facts state.

The child closed a door behind them, but heard the woman approach and decided to use the force of their body to prevent the 46-year-old from entering.

“The woman however successfully entered and proceeded to hit the victim several times causing (them) immediate pain,” police facts state.

The child attempted to push the woman off with both hands and attempted to escape through the bedroom window, but the woman “grabbed the victim by the hair and pulled them with force towards the floor”.

“The victim landed on their stomach and the accused sat on them and used her fingernails to scratch the right side of the victim’s face,” court documents state.

According to police facts, the woman “grabbed a white electrical cord off a nearby window seal and placed it around the victim’s neck” which caused the child pain.

The victim then said “I’m sorry” and the woman let go of the cord and the child and told them to ‘get out of this house’.

The child contacted their father and waited to be collected before attending Green Valley police station where police found fresh scratch marks on the child’s face.

“The victim provided the aforementioned version of events however was inconsolable and became physically sick when speaking about the incident,” the facts state.

The woman was arrested the next day and told police officers “she was the one who had been assaulted”.

According to the facts, the woman said during the altercation “the victim grabbed her by the hair and as a result she grabbed a white cord and said to the victim ‘If you’re not going to let go of me I am going to use it’.”

She could not recall if she caused injury to the child.

The woman told the court she was remorseful for her actions and the child was “not easy to deal with”.

“I thought I was acting within reason but I now know I have not,” she said.

NSW Department of Education said it was assessing the matter as a priority and would take appropriate action.

“The safety and welfare of students are our highest priorities,” a spokesman said.