SCOTS NURSERY WORKER WHO SLAPPED AUTISTIC GIRL, 5, IN FIT OF RAGE WALKS FREE AS PARENTS CALL FOR HER TO BE JAILED
A Scots nursery worker who slapped a five-year-old autistic girl in a fit of rage has been let off by a sheriff.Nicola Tyler, 52, appeared in the dock after being caught assaulting the child at an Ayrshire school – but was granted an absolute discharge by Sheriff Colin Bissett who agreed staffing issues had led to the attack and said North Ayrshire Council had “hung Tyler out to dry”.
The court was told Tyler had been employed as an early years practitioner and was setting up a train set when the non-verbal girl began trying to interfere.
Tyler, who had bought the train set from a charity shop, asked the girl to stop, but she tried to hit Tyler, who then slapped her across the face.
An eyewitness alerted staff, and the child's parents, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, expressed their outrage, saying: “What she has done will live with us forever.
Our little girl is totally traumatised and refuses to go back to nursery.
We wanted Tyler to get jail, but she only received a discharge.
She has lost her job and now works as a pharmacy dispenser.
The sheriff criticized the nursery’s 'inadequate provision of care' and stated that staff staffing issues contributed to the incident, with the local authority also partly responsible.
