The headmistress who was assaulted in a Vittoriosa school on Tuesday was dragged to the floor by her hair and punched and kicked, the Malta Union of Teachers disclosed on Thursday.

The aggressor, a grandmother, was fined €4,000 by a court and handed a six-month suspended jail term.

The MUT said it was giving an account of what happened now that the case had been decided. 

Read: Grandmother fined €4,000 for assaulting head of school

It said that about 10am on Tuesday, headmistress Lorna Schembri was on the phone when she saw a woman waiting outside her office and directed an assistant head to see her.

The woman entered her office, declared she was the grandmother of a pupil at the school, and insisted that no one could shout at the boy.

Without giving any chance for Ms Schembri to understand or react, she grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the floor, where she started punching and kicking her.

A member of the school's administration and the handyman intervened to stop the assault and the woman was escorted out of the school. The police and an ambulance were called.

The headmistress was taken to hospital for treatment to her injuries. She was discharged in the evening after a series of tests.

She told the union she did not know the woman who attacked her and she and the other teachers had always well cared for the pupil concerned. Therefore they could not understand the motive for the assault.

The headmistress, through the union, thanked all those who helped her and offered support.

The MUT said it was renewing its appeal to the education authorities to give more importance to such events and to prevent a repetition.

Minister warns against schools becoming 'besieged fortresses'

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo admitted it was a struggle to strike a balance between security measures and ensuring schools were not cut off from the community.

Speaking to Times of Malta a day after the incident, Mr Bartolo insisted he did not want schools to become “besieged fortresses”, with security personnel in every corner.

“I would be wary of institutionalising security measures that cut off the school from the community. We need to find a balance between having schools that are open to the community but at the same time, protect our heads and teachers.

“That is something we will continue to do, and where necessary, we will endeavour to do, but at the same time, to have our schools withdraw into some besieged fortress will be very sad,” Mr Bartolo said.

He insisted that incidents like Tuesday’s were unacceptable and that such behaviour would not be tolerated.

However, he again warned that the matter had to be addressed with caution.