http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1467665/Teacher-who-taped-girls-mouth-is-cleared-of-assault.htmlTeacher who taped girl's mouth is cleared of assault
By Nicole Martin 12:01AM BST 23 Jul 2004
A supply teacher accused of assaulting a girl by placing sticky tape over her mouth walked free from court yesterday after the pupil admitted that her class had asked her to do it 'as a bit of fun'.
Bridgette Tarwala, 53, was said to have taped the nine-year-old girl's mouth - and those of fellow classmates - after becoming fed up with the noise they were making during an art lesson in February.
She was suspended from her post, subjected to a police investigation and charged with assault by beating after the parents of the nine-year-old girl complained about her 'unusual and inappropriate' actions.
But the prosecution dropped its case after the girl told the court that she and other pupils at Worting Junior School in Basingstoke, Hants, had willingly lined up to have their mouths taped.
Alton magistrates heard that Miss Tarwala had given the class several warnings to be quiet before jokingly asking, 'Who thinks they have been noisy? Who thinks they need a bit of sticky tape?'
The girl, giving evidence by video link, said: 'She was not angry. It was said as a bit of fun. One boy said, 'Miss, I have been naughty, I need some tape.' She cut off some tape and put it on some of the boys' mouths and they were laughing.'
Keen to join in the fun, she queued up with a friend to have her mouth taped up. She said: 'She put it on gently. I was not hurt or upset when she put it on.'
Dismissing the charge, District Judge John Woollard ruled that the incident had been 'a moment of fun' and criticised the prosecution for bringing the case to court. He apologised to Miss Tarwala for the 'indignity' of being arrested, fingerprinted and photographed and having to give DNA samples.
'It's clear that this girl had to be prompted in interview on a number of occasions to remember the incident and answer police officers' questions,' he said.
"It was clear that this was no more than a jocular way of reinforcing to the children that if they did not obey the teacher's instructions, there would be consequences.
"Whether this is an appropriate way to teach children is not a matter over which I have any expertise."
Miss Tarwala declined to comment after the case, but a friend who was with her in court said: "At least that is the end to six months of hell."
The nine-year-old girl's father, speaking after the hearing, said he was furious that the case had been thrown out. I am absolutely amazed that a judge, somebody who is supposed to be a pillar of this society, can sit there and say this is a condonable action," he said.
"I send my children to school to be taught and treated in an appropriate manner. Sellotaping children's mouths is at the very least unacceptable and inappropriate and I think it is outrageous."
James Burnham, prosecuting, later defended the Crown Prosecution Service's decision to bring the case to court.
"We decided that it was in the public interest to prosecute and I think their decision was correct on the basis of the papers that we had available to us at that time," he said.
"Now obviously things developed during the course of the trial and the evidence came out in a different way to the way that we expected it to."
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