West Lothian mum admonished after tackling school bully
A West Lothian mum ended up in court after tackling a school bully who picked on her daughter.
The 43-year-old woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, lost her temper when she saw her daughter in tears at the school gates.
She grabbed the bully boy and pushed him to the ground then kicked him on the backside shouting angrily: "You won't do this to my daughter again!"
As a result, a court heard she'd been "effectively ostracised" by the school and banned from going to meet her daughter or to attend events like parents' night.
Iain Smith, defending, said the mum had suffered disproportionately as a result of the moment's loss of composure on 14 September 2014.
Mr Smith said: "At the time, and now, she's embarrassed and ashamed by what happened and she doesn't' think it was acceptable to do what she did.
"This comes with a background in which for a period of 12 months her daughter had been assaulted on many spate occasions as well as there being other types of incidents.
"She accepts the other child has difficulties - it's not as if she's saying he's a bad child - and they're trying to keep him in mainstream education.
"She asked for a level of protection for her daughter, asking for him to be moved to another class but that didn't happen."
He said the mum had not appealed the decision by staff at the school, and had accepted the humiliation that followed.
However, she had since found out her name had been put on a list of "persons dangerous to children".
He urged the court to take the exceptional decision to give her an absolute discharge which would mean she would not have a criminal record.
Sheriff Susan Craig refused and admonished the woman, meaning the conviction will be recorded.