Eighteen-year-old Kieran Matthew avoided jail time after violently attacking his teacher, Carol Shaw, at St Paul’s Academy in Dundee, an assault that left her permanently scarred and unable to return to work.
On March 22 last year, Matthew grabbed Ms. Shaw in what witnesses described as a “rugby-style grip” and slammed her head-first onto the concrete floor. She was knocked unconscious, suffered a severe head injury, and required 10 stitches for a deep Y-shaped wound on her scalp. Doctors said the injuries could have been fatal.
“He walked free!?” one commenter wrote online. “And then they wonder why more people don’t want to become a teacher.”
Despite the severity of the incident, Matthew was handed a three-year social work supervision order, avoiding prison entirely, according to The Sunday Times. The court heard that the attack followed a confrontation about a behavioural measure: Matthew, who had a history of aggression, refused to change for PE in a separate room, a protocol designed to prevent classroom conflict.
Fiscal Deputy Laura Bruce said Ms. Shaw, regarded as a trusted adult by Matthew, was called to de-escalate. Instead, she became the target.
“She remembers being grabbed, arms pinned, then hitting the floor with horrific force,” Bruce told Dundee Sheriff Court, per Metro.
Bloodied and disoriented, Shaw tried to get up, leaving a handprint on the wall. Another teacher said she looked “like a ragdoll flying through the air,” BBC News reports.
In the aftermath, Matthew reportedly showed no remorse. “She deserved it,” he told staff while scrolling his phone with his feet up on a desk. “The stupid cow deserved it.”