Inverness Sheriff Court sees secondary school teacher found not guilty of assaulting two disruptive pupils
A Highland secondary school teacher who was accused of assaulting two disruptive pupils was cleared by a sheriff after they were branded "neither credible nor reliable".
The teenagers, now aged 14 who cannot be named for legal reasons as can neither the school, have both been expelled after vandalising the teacher's car when one of them smashed his windscreen in a fit of rage at being ticked off.
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Niall Maclennan, from Lentran near Inverness, had denied pushing both boys on the body after confronting them for dodging class and the noise they were making in the corridor outside his room on February 1 this year.
The 54-year-old, with an unblemished 24-year school record, was represented by John MacColl, who called another teacher, 40-year-old Gemma Mackinnon-Bell as a defence witness.
She said she had also been the victim of a false assault allegation by one of the boys.
After hearing the evidence at Inverness Sheriff Court, Sheriff Nigel Cooke acquitted Mr Maclennan, telling him: "I imagine this has been weighing on you for many months.
"The Crown have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, but I didn't find the boys' evidence credible or reliable and therefore I find you not guilty."
