A teacher and two support staff are to stand trial on charges of assaulting 18 pupils at a school over a four-year period.
The names of the three male accused and the Auckland school are covered by strict suppression orders, but the Herald on Sunday can reveal they
are facing 14 charges.
They include 12 counts of assault on a child, one count of assault with a weapon and a further charge of threatening to do grievous bodily harm. One of the accused faces two further counts of assault on a fellow staff member.
Among the more specific allegations are that the teacher in question threatened to dismember a child complainant with a knife if he continued "flashing" female students.
Another complainant, aged 12, said he was threatened by the same teacher with a 40cm-long piece of wood and had his face pushed into the dirt. Other students have told police they were manhandled, causing bruising, nosebleeds and torn clothing, with one alleging one of the accused restrained him to the point he could barely breathe.
The allegations were presented at a deposition hearing at the Manukau District Court last week to see if there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial. Justices of the Peace Ken Wood and Peter Jollands found there was a case to answer and remanded the three accused on bail to October 23 for a district court hearing.
The support staff face allegations of assault during last year.
In one incident, a 12-year-old child was allegedly grabbed by the neck and pushed to the ground by one staff member, who is alleged to have then said: "Wait till Monday, I am going to get you."
All three defendants deny all charges.
A spokesman for the school said all three staff had stopped working at the school when charges were laid by police late last year.
New Zealand Teachers Council director Dr Peter Lind said if the teacher in question was found guilty on any or all of the charges he would face a hearing for serious misconduct and possible deregistration.
