Mother 'terrorised' headmaster

A headmaster yesterday said he felt "terrorised" when a student's mother told him that she was ready to kill him and tried to assault him at his office on parents' day.

Headmaster Raymond Cassar took the witness stand before Magistrate Doreen Clarke in the case against Doris Azzopardi, 35, who is pleading not guilty to threatening, assaulting and throwing an umbrella at him at the Valletta primary school.

Mr Cassar said that on February 27, which was parents' day, Ms Azzopardi went up to him and asked to have a word with him.

The two went into his office and sat round his desk. "She seemed to be agitated and then told me that she would have never expected it from me.

"Although I was not sure what she was talking about, I imagined that she was referring to what happened the day before during dismissal," he said explaining that "dismissal" was the gathering of the children before they left school.

Mr Cassar went on to explain that, during the dismissal, he had told Ms Azzopardi's daughter and another boy to kneel down during the Hail Mary because they had been fighting.

He added that they only knelt down for the duration of the prayer, that is about 20 seconds, and further explained that this was not the first time students were punished this way for misbehaving.

Going back to his office conversation with Ms Azzopardi the headmaster said: "She didn't give me a chance. She stood up and cleared my desk by throwing everything on it onto the floor. She then waved her arm, which grazed past me because I stood up in time to avoid the blow," he said.

Mr Cassar said he then left his office and she followed him. The assistant head and the janitor went to his assistance, probably because they heard Ms Azzopardi shout.

As he walked down the corridor, on his way to call the police, she hurled an umbrella at him but did not hit him, he continued.

He also said that Ms Azzopardi had told him that she wanted to kill him and would be ready to be jailed because of him.

"I was terrorised because I imagined she would physically assault me," he said.

Mr Cassar said he knew Ms Azzopardi both as a student's parent and because he used to teach her when she was a student. He also said that he was never told that Ms Assopardi's daughter had a knee condition as had been alleged. Furthermore, he said, a few days later the girl had joined in a school sports rally.

During cross examination, the headmaster said he did not believe that the way he had punished the girl for fighting was unethical or constituted corporal punishment.

Police Inspector Pierre Micallef Grimaud is prosecuting.

Lawyers José Herrera and Veronique Dalli were defence counsel while lawyer Pawlu Lia represented Mr Cassar.