A MALVERN teacher who wrestled an unruly 14-year-old to the ground was unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal ruled this week.

Thomas Kelly, aged 56, of Maybank, was sacked for gross misconduct from his job teaching maths and science at Blessed Edward Oldcorne RC High School, Worcester.

Birmingham Employment Tribunal heard Mr Kelly had caught the boy tearing up a bush in the playground.

"I told him I would have to remove his hand from the bush if he did not stop, and as I did he grabbed my tie in a choking fashion," he said.

"Someone in the crowd yelled 'punch him' and he did - a right hook to my ear. We then fell to the ground and I pinned him down with my knee in his chest. I believe I acted in self-defence."

He told the tribunal he believed the school was facing anarchy from certain pupils.

"I was not prepared to put up with such abusive and foul language," he said. "I had already been assaulted eight times by unruly pupils and had objects thrown at me.

"The school policy is too unreasonable to be workable. The school authorities were weak and too lazy. Pupils were getting away with their bad behaviour because they were not getting the right punishment."

School head Sean Devlin described Mr Kelly as aggressive, strict, sarcastic to pupils and unprepared to comply with the school's policy.

The tribunal also heard Mr Kelly handed out frequent detentions, without the 24-hour notice required by policy. Parents, pupils and some teachers objected to Mr Kelly's methods.

Tribunal chairman Charles Rostant said: "You were unfairly dismissed because the school did not carry out the correct disciplinary procedure. But we are not awarding compensation because we believe you contributed to your dismissal.

"As a disciplinarian, you launched a lone and righteous crusade against the badly-behaved. Some teachers shared your view, but we have not been satisfied that you acted in a reasonable manner."

Father-of-five Mr Kelly, an American from New York, came to this country 17 years ago and also taught in Ireland.