Law on Assaulting, Stalking, Harassing or Intimidating a School Staff Member or Student at School in NSW

By Sahar Adatia and Jimmy Singh.

If you’ve ever watched the movie Bad Moms starring Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell, you’ll likely recall the scenes of dejected, stressed-out parents cutting loose and liberating themselves through completely inappropriate behaviour.

From drunkenly raiding grocery stores, bouncing around to thumping music while chugging from giant bottles of vodka, and inventing wildly outrageous excuses to get out of watching their kids play baseball, the mothers are foul-mouthed forces of nature engaging in all kinds of bad behaviour.

As one may expect, it seems bad parenting is not simply limited to movies, and moreover, in reality, such behaviour can result in harsh penalties.

Recently, for one Nelson Bay woman on her way to collect a young girl from school, this was a lesson learnt the hard way as she dismissed the responsibilities of being a parent and drove seemingly under the influence, colliding with bushes as she parked.

But the bad behaviour didn’t end there as she went on to become aggressive towards the staff members who tried to stop her.

The troubling incident left the woman with a series of charges, including being abusive towards a member of staff at a school.

Police Called as Woman Begins to Abuse School Staff Members Upon Collecting Young Girl

NSW Police reports that at about 3:20pm on 10 June 2020, a 60-year-old woman behind the wheel of a Peugeot drove to a school in the locale of Port Stephens to collect a young girl, aged nine, who is known to her.

However, as the woman attempted to park her vehicle upon arriving at the school, she allegedly crashed into a series of bushes and small trees.

The woman’s concerning control of the vehicle quickly caught the attention of school staff, who intervened in an effort to stop her from driving away with the girl after picking her up.

Nevertheless, it was at this point that the woman allegedly became aggressive and verbally abusive toward the members of staff at the school.

With commotion unfolding, staff were forced to call the police to assist in resolving the matter.

Woman Refuses to Undergo Breath Test as Police Arrive

As officers from Port Stephens-Hunter Police District arrived at the school, they requested the woman submit a breath sample.

However, the woman allegedly refused to carry out the breath test, leading to her arrest.

While the woman was being ushered into the police vehicle, she then kicked out, aiming at a female senior constable.

Fortunately, the officer managed to escape without injury.

At Nelson Bay Police Station, where the woman was then transported to, she again refused to submit to a further breath analysis.

She was later charged with harass/intimidate school staff member attending school, refuse or fail to submit to breath analysis and assault police.

The woman was granted conditional bail and will face Raymond Terrace Local Court at the end of August.

Woman’s Bad Parenting Behaviour Condemned by Public

As news of the incident reached the public, many social media users shared the sentiment that the woman’s behaviour was unacceptable and she should have known better.

On a post shared to Facebook informing of the incident, one user expressed, “That poor young girl. I hope she’s OK and the school protected her from dealing with all of that”.

Another reacted by saying, “The only victim in this situation is the 9-year-old girl being picked up… She’d be terribly embarrassed that her granny caused a scene in front of her classmates and put her safety at risk”.

Reverberating such thought were comments including, “Hope they put in a report to docs too for that poor little girl”.

Others highlighted the woman setting a bad example.

“What a role model…NOT,” one user commented, while another abruptly wrote, “Old enough to know better”

Meanwhile, some social media users simply made light of the situation.

“Nannas who lunch, poor kid though,” one user noted.

“Wasn’t a good day bowls and bingo,” another echoed.

Have questions on this topic of law? Call our Parramatta criminal lawyers today.

Assault charges are daunting to face. This article is a guide to help people understand this area of criminal law.

Law on Assaulting, Stalking, Harassing or Intimidating a School Staff Member or Student at School in NSW

The maximum penalties range from 5-years jail to 12-years jail for committing the offence of assaulting, stalking, harassing or intimidating any school student or member of staff of a school while the student or member of staff is attending a school.  This is outlined in section 60E Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).

The maximum penalty is 5-years imprisonment if this occurs with no actual bodily harm.

The maximum penalty is 7-years if this occurs, causing actual bodily harm.

The maximum penalty of 12-years applies if this occurs, recklessly causing wounding or grievous bodily harm.

In addition, there is up to 5-years imprisonment to anyone who even enters a school premises with an intention to commit an offence.

Our assault lawyer Sydney team are happy to help if you have any questions arising from this article.

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