AN ISLE of Wight teacher who grabbed a student by the shoulders, pulled them forcibly across some distance and then pushed them to the ground appeared in court this morning (Monday).

Graeme Bell — a former Cowes Enterprise College teacher — was found guilty of assault by beating after the incident went to trial.

Ann Smout, prosecuting, said another teacher had asked the student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to 'sit down and eat your food' when the child refused.

Bell, 46, of Coronation Road, Cowes, then stomped over to the child, grabbed their shoulders, pulled them forcibly across some distance and pushed them to the ground, the court heard.

A fellow teacher described Bell in that moment as 'crazily mental' and said she heard the student call out 'stop get off me' when she gave evidence at the trial.

The student, who the other teacher described as visibly upset, had walked away in an effort to hide their reaction from other students.

In a victim statement read out to the court, the victim spoke of their fear when approached by teachers and said they had been worried and scared since the incident.

For Bell, Miss Chapman said this was the first time Bell had appeared in court.

The court heard the incident had been completely out of character for the defendant, who had been a teacher for 18 years, and that it was a 'moment of madness' on Bell's part.

In mitigation, the court heard Bell had lost his job and would never be able to work with children again.

Miss Chapman described Bell's diminished job prospects as 'a punishment worse than the court could give'.

Bell was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 100 hours of unpaid work and charged £480 towards costs.

A school spokesperson said after the hearing: “Clearly the behaviour of this former member of our staff was absolutely unacceptable and has no place in any school. 

“The safety and wellbeing of our students is always our number one priority and we have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure this. As soon as this incident happened, we suspended the member of staff involved and informed all relevant authorities. 

“He has since been dismissed following a disciplinary hearing.”