Assault teacher quits profession

A Hawke's Bay teacher found guilty of assaulting children, including hitting one on the head with a pencil case, has decided he will give up his teaching career.

Trevor Apihai, 45, who was employed at Te Kura Kaupapa o Ngati Kahungunu ki Heretaunga School near Hastings between July and November last year, was today sentenced in Napier District Court to 300 hours of community work.

Last month Apihai was found guilty by a jury of two charges of assaulting pupils and two of assault with a weapon, after initially facing 15 charges. Five were dropped midway through the trial due to contradictory evidence from pupils and the jury found him not guilty on six others.

His lawyer, Eric Forster, told Judge Geoff Rea today that his client had begun voluntary deregistration as a teacher and did not intend to teach "in the foreseeable future".

Judge Rea said Apihai had been a teacher for 14 years before being employed by the Maori immersion school in Hawke's Bay but it was abundantly apparent that his classroom management was inadequate.

While there were no gross assaults as such, there had been evidence of rough handling of pupils, including one boy being struck on the head with a pencil case and one being pulled off a chair. Other pupils had been grabbed with unnecessary force to make them comply with his instructions.

The dominant theme was the failure of Apihai to lead his class by example and to manage pupils who challenged his authority.

The court was told Apihai had been asked to return to the school to attend a meeting where he apologised to pupils and some parents had raised strong objection to this.

Judge Rea said the apology might have had some cathartic effect for him but exception had been taken by others for what was "an ill-judged episode" arranged by school authorities.

While there had been a measure of remorse shown by Apihai, it did not extend to the remorse of a guilty plea and the accused had contested the charges to the end.

"The offending involved a breach of the ethics of the teaching profession and a breach of trust for employers and parents," said Judge Rea.

- NZPA