Teacher convicted of child cruelty

A TEACHER at Parkview Special School has been convicted of child cruelty.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Apr 2013, 10:32 BST

Two of the five charges against Stephen Downes (59) from Glebe Gardens in Moira, were dropped during the final day of the hearing.

He was found guilty of two of the other three charges at Lisburn magistrates court.

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The teacher denied grabbing and striking a girl after she drank another pupil’s milk and wilfully assaulting another girl when they were alone in a room together, with the door closed on dates between 2010 and 2011.

Judge Rosemary Watters said she was satisfied he had been cruel to the children.

Judge Watters said she “couldn’t think of injured parties any more vulnerable” and did not accept that Downes’ use of the term “fear factor” meant “creating awareness of boundaries”.

Downes will be sentenced for two charges of cruelty against a person under 16 on May 10.

More on this story in Friday’s print edition of the Ulster Star.