Mother barred from school for confronting son's bully

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Christine Hart has been accused of "verbally abusing" the bully who used her child as a "human punch bag".

The 38-year-old asked the pupil to "please stop hitting" her son but was stopped by a teaching assistant who reported her to the headteacher.

Miss Hart was told not to cross the school gates until a hearing with the governors. She was warned she could face a six-month ban and further incidents would be reported to police.

Miss Hart said she felt compelled to protect her son when the teachers at Orleans Infants School in Twickenham failed to do so. "I am being punished because I stood up for my son when the school appeared to be doing nothing about my complaints," she said. The school said pupil safety was paramount and all bullying procedures had been followed.

But Miss Hart, a journalist, said her son had been bullied since he started at the school last September.

On one occasion she saw him being attacked at a party in the school hall. "One boy ran up to him and started using him as a punch bag. Other boys then ran up to him, grabbed him round the neck and arms and he was being hit. I was rooted to the spot."

Miss Hart said she had invited the tormenter to tea so the two boys could play. When this didn't work she decided to confront the youngster.

"I approached him, knelt by his side, made eye contact and said 'please stop hitting [my son]'," she said. "The boy thought for a moment and said he would stop. I was not in any way aggressive and he seemed to respond positively."

Headmistress Pip Utting said: "We cannot discuss individual cases."