Pensby teacher attack dad convicted as wife acquitted

Jul 7 2010 by Ben Rossington, Heswall News

A MERSEYSIDE dad was warned he could face jail after he attacked his son’s teacher in the school car park.

The jury at Liverpool crown court yesterday took just 10 minutes to convict James Buckley, 51, of assaulting Pensby High School science teacher Stuart Devereux.

But the jury cleared his wife, Tracey Buckley, 46, of the same charge.

Mr Buckley held his wife’s arm and kissed her as she was told by Judge Brian Lewis that she was free to leave the dock.

But Judge Lewis told him: “I make it clear you have been convicted in the face of overwhelming evidence of a serious unprovoked attack on a teacher in the grounds of his own school.

“Not withstanding that I am granting you bail I make it clear the court is considering all options including custody.”

The couple, of Haddon Drive, Pensby, had gone through a week-long trial after both denying assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The allegations related to an incident at the Wirral school on October 22.

Gerald Baxter, prosecuting, told the court that a fuming Mr Buckley attacked his son Matt’s science teacher after accusing him of bullying his boy.

It was said he punched Mr Devereux up to 10 times to the head.

The jury of seven men and five women were told the defendant arrived at the school shortly after a meeting between Mr Devereux and Mrs Buckley to discuss how Matt had been disciplined.

On that day the court heard Mr Devereux sent Year 11 student Matt from class because he refused to sit where he was told. Later that day, the teacher was asked by the school head if he would attend a meeting with Tracey Buckley after school.

The prosecution claimed that after leaving the meeting Mrs Buckley used her 4x4 to block Mr Devereux’s vehicle in the Irby Road car park until her husband arrived.

When James Buckley arrived he ran from his van to Mr Devereux’s Ford Focus and wrenched open the door screaming “You won’t bully me”, before raining blows down on the teacher.

CCTV footage played to jurors showed Buckley running across to Mr Devereux’s vehicle.

Giving evidence Mr Devereux said: “He opened my driver’s door and started screaming at me and the next thing I felt was a really hard thump on the side of my head.”

The teacher, who has worked at the school since 1989, added: “I leaned across the passenger seat. He was still trying to rain punches at me.”

From the witness stand, Mrs Buckley said she sat in her car because she felt emotional after the meeting with Mr Devereux and not because she was intentionally blocking him in.

Just before they retired to consider their verdict, the jury were told by Judge Lewis that if Mrs Buckley had no knowledge of her husband’s intentions and thought he was only coming for a “verbal altercation”, she should not be convicted of the charge she faced.

Mr Buckley will be sentenced on July 26.