A Staffordshire father has been jailed for headbutting the headteacher of his daughter's school.
Shaun Pattyson, 28, of Brewster Road, Bucknall, admitted assault by beating when he appeared at North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 28th September 2022.
He was back at the same court for sentencing earlier this week.
Assault by beating, an offence contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody on summary conviction.
Emma Thompson, prosecuting at the first hearing, described the incident at Chesterton Community Sports College on Monday, 9th May 2022.
The school had contacted Pattyson's partner as a result of their daughter's persistently poor behaviour (clearly the apple didn't fall far from the tree).
Headteacher Robert Swindells, who has been at the school for 25 years, was having a conversation with the girl's mother when Pattyson arrived on the scene.
Miss Thompson said: "The headteacher had a conversation with the child's mum on the phone and she said she would come immediately to collect the child.
"The child went to the front entrance and began being rude. Within 10 minutes the child's parents arrived.
"The mother approached the front entrance and shouted at the child to get a phone. The child went to collect the phone.
"The defendant appeared and squared up to the headteacher. The headteacher could not remember what he said to him but the defendant was swearing at him before head-butting him. It connected with the right side of his face just below his right eye. He immediately fell to the floor as a result of the headbutt. He felt the defendant kick and punch him for approximately 10 seconds."
The clearly amused thug was heard to tell an injured Mr Swindells: "You went down like a sack of shit. Come down the park and I will finish you off."
An unrepentant Pattyson made full and frank admissions during his police interview.
"He said he headbutted the headteacher," Miss Thompson continued.
"He was shown the CCTV and admitted it was him head-butting, punching and kicking the victim. He said he believed the headteacher was a bully and that is why he assaulted him."
Representing himself at the first hearing, Pattyson said: "I'll admit to head-butting him because I did. I admit to punching him. I did not kick him. If this is on CCTV, show it to prove I did not kick him."
With the distinct possibility of custody looming Pattyson was slightly more contrite by the time of the sentencing hearing.
James Hulse, mitigating on that occasion, told the court that his client now accepted his behaviour was "out of order".
Pattyson has since, rather conveniently, been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Mr Hulse said: "In his words, 'It does not excuse my behaviour but it does provide some sort of explanation as to why I react in the way I do'."
Without a hint of irony, he added: "A suspended sentence would have some teeth. There has been a noticeable change in the last two weeks. He seems to think before he acts."
District Judge Kevin Grego wasn't accepting any flannel.
Addressing Pattyson, the Judge said: "You pleaded guilty to an offence of common assault on Mr Swindells on 9th May. There had been problems at the school that morning. You and your partner had been contacted and were told the child was going to have to leave the school, at least for the day.
"Very shortly afterwards, as seen on CCTV, you arrived. Mr Swindells and the child were on the steps. There was no verbal engagement. You simply walked up to him, caught his attention to turn to you and, in my judgement, in utterly cowardly fashion, you caught him by headbutting him before he could react to your presence, and with such force he went to the ground. On the way down you punched him repeatedly and he went down.
"This happened on school premises in front of the child and in front of other students. Public servants need to have confidence that when they are victims of crime the court will impose appropriate punishment and in this case the only appropriate sentence is prison for four months."
Every day hundreds of teachers and school staff are subjected to the most horrendous of verbal and physical abuse by parents, with the expectation that they will just accept it "as part of the job".
It is not part of the job and there is no place whatsoever for such abysmal parental conduct in our schools.
This sentence is entirely appropriate and will hopefully act as a firm deterrent to others.
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