Dad furious with school after daughter allegedly beaten up by students in teacher’s office
A dad’s teenage daughter fears going to school after she was allegedly thrown to the floor by two girls “double” her size during an alleged attack in a teacher’s office.
James Cooper, 42, claims his 15-year-old daughter was left covered in bruises following the terrifying assault at Elmgreen School in Elmcourt Road, Tulse Hill, last month.
A male teacher allegedly struggled to hold the two pupils back as they allegedly kicked and punched his daughter during the incident, which Mr Cooper has reported to the police.
Pictures of his daughter that Mr Cooper claims were taken after the alleged attack on November 21 show her with bruises on her knee and thigh and a red mark on her cheek.
He claims the girls involved were suspended following the incident but have now been allowed to return to the school.
When he complained about the decision to let them back in, a teacher at the school allegedly told him that it was against the school’s policy to expel pupils.
Mr Cooper said: “The two girls attacked [her]… and started kicking and punching her. It all happened in the [teacher’s] office and he was trying to hold the girls back while my girl was on the floor. My daughter is 5ft one and six and a half to seven stone. They are double her body weight and double her size.
“She was covered head to toe in bruises. They should be permanently excluded. [A teacher] said ‘that’s not our policy any more. We don’t permanently exclude anyone.’ I don’t see why the two girls should get away with it and not face any justice.”
Mr Cooper said the other girls had targeted his daughter after a rumour spread that she had called them “fat” in a message on social media.
Angry about the alleged remarks, Mr Cooper claims the two girls and a third pupil, tried to attack his daughter as she was waiting to go into dance class earlier in the day on November 21.
Later on in the day, his daughter and the two girls were pulled out of lessons for a meeting in a teacher’s office about the incident outside the dance class. It is here that his daughter claims the two girls attacked her.
Elmgreen School said the matter was for “the students, families and the school,” and declined to comment further.
The Met said: “Police were called at around 4pm on November 21 to reports that a pupil had been assaulted at a school in Elmcourt Road SE27 earlier that day. The 15-year-old girl is alleged to have sustained facial injuries following an incident involving two other pupils.
“The safer schools officer is in contact with the victim and her family, and the school. There have been no arrests at this time. Enquiries are ongoing.”
Pictured top: James Cooper outside Elmgreen School in Tulse Hill (Picture: Robert Firth)