Northland teacher charged with kidnapping

Decorative Scales of Justice in the Courtroom

A Northland teacher charged with kidnapping is alleged to have locked an unruly student in a room, letting him out only when his bus arrived.

The teacher, who has interim name suppression along with the name of the school, also faces five charges of assaulting a child. The four complainants are all pupils.

The teacher's case was called in a Northland court on Tuesday, when his lawyer urged the judge to throw out the kidnapping charge. The charge relates to an incident when the teacher placed two unruly students in what the children call "the jail room", known to teachers as the resource room or time-out room.

Crown prosecutor Richard Annandale said one of the children had been grabbed by the shirt and upper arm, taken forcefully to the room, and locked inside.

"He didn't get any lunch and he was let out when the school van was about to leave."

Mr Annandale said schools had a right to their own policies around discipline but those policies had to conform to the laws of the land, including the Crimes Act. The teacher's actions went beyond what was normally expected in society, he said.

The teacher's lawyer, however, said the Education Act required children aged 6-16 to attend school, so they were in the lawful custody of their school during teaching hours.

The Crown claimed the resource room was locked but the man's lawyer said his inspection found no locking mechanism as described.

"Even if that were so, they were in the lawful custody of the school, so they cannot be unlawfully detained. It may be a breach of OSH regulations but nothing more. It was school policy at the time," he said.

The defence lawyer also questioned the Crown's claim that the boy had gone without lunch, saying he had jumped out of a window and was found playing with other children at lunchtime. The teacher then ordered him back into the room.

The lawyer urged Judge Keith de Ridder to dismiss the kidnapping charge, while Mr Annandale said it should be up to a jury to decide whether the teacher's actions amounted to kidnapping.

The judge reserved his decision.

The case will be called again on February 24 and is due to go to jury trial on July 20, with the complainants to give evidence by CCTV.

The Crown is also considering whether to apply to have the kidnapping charge changed to a representative charge, meaning it occurred on more than one occasion.