Mother accused of assaulting headmaster

A woman was yesterday charged with assaulting the headmaster of her daughter's primary school by hurling an umbrella at him.

Magistrate Silvio Meli heard Doris Azzopardi, 35, pleaded not guilty to threatening, assaulting and throwing the umbrella at Raymond Cassar, the headmaster of a Valletta primary school on Tuesday morning.

Ms Azzopardi's lawyers noted that their client had overreacted when she heard that the headmaster had punished her seven-year-old daughter by making her spend an afternoon kneeling in the playground.

What made the matter worse, the lawyers added, was the fact that the girl suffered from a knee condition and the headmaster had been informed about this.

On hearing this, the magistrate commented that such ways of punishing students were no longer allowed.

Ms Azzopardi was granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm1,000.

Police Inspector Pierre Micallef Grimaud prosecuted. Lawyers José Herrera and Veronique Dalli were defence counsel.