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Mum faces court for slapping alleged bully

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Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:00a.m.

An Auckland mum will face court on Tuesday charged with assaulting a schoolgirl who allegedly punched her daughter.

Mellissa Anderson has told The New Zealand Herald how she chased down one of two girls she believed had attacked her daughter Summer, 13, while she was waiting for the bus outside Kaipara College in Helensville on Friday.

A photograph shows Summer with a black eye and a facial gash following the alleged attack.

Ms Anderson said she rushed to the school after getting a call from her daughter, and after finding her beaten and crying decided impulsively to take action.

She ran after one girl whom she said she slapped "a couple of times".

"I was still holding her when the cops put me on the ground," she told the newspaper.

She said she reacted as any parent would be tempted to, but had now accepted she should not have done so.

Ms Anderson and the two girls, both aged 14, were arrested. The mother will appear in Waitakere District Court on Tuesday morning.

NZN

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Comments

09 Dec 2011 02:51p.m.

Dan wrote:

@ Nigel: "Pre-emptive self-defence" is not self-defence at all though of course I will be happy to debate that issue. More fundamentally however this woman's actions was not even a pre-emptive strike, it was a retaliatory strike when there was no imminent danger to her child. Now I understand that many people's brand of justice would lead them to believe this is justifiable merely due to the conduct of the bullies but that is far from sufficient. It is the mother's conduct which is really on trial i.e. was her state of mind culpable? The jury may ultimately acquit her and that's their prerogative but legal justice demands that she be punished to deter others and maintain good order.

30 Nov 2011 05:35p.m.

nigel wrote:

Dan, “Sometimes the Law works” “And sometimes it doesn’t, you know these people they steal they murder, destroy peoples’ lives and get away with it” A couple of lines from Death Wish V starring the late Charles Bronson. Succinctly making the point the law is not working, bullying is epidemic and the bullies run rampant and they get away with it. Imagine Dan if you were that girl, the terror you would have felt, the nightmares, the ensuing paranoia, the destruction of your life. Your ego, your confidence diminished to a pinprick, you are a victim and the bully laughs. But not when she got a smack around the chops and you felt better! This is not a validation of vigilantism but the recognition of the justice, the eloquence, the precision of a violent solution. The Americans spend billions of dollars every year on violent solutions for violent problems. On occasion violent solutions work well in the microcosm that is the individual’s life, an attack on your child for example. The concept of self defence can stretch to pre-emptive strikes, ask Ehud Barak of Israel on the subject of Iran’s nuclear weapons. So in the case of this young mother, was she ethically justified in slapping her daughters’ attacker? If the jurors were anything like the posters here the answer is yes, and I expect ultimately you would think so too, though it might take a few hours to convince you.

30 Nov 2011 11:35a.m.

Dan wrote:

@ Nigel: Actually the law is in place to maintain good order in our societies and that is why we have courts to resolve disputes over our rights if we feel they've been infringed upon. We should not be resolving our disputes with violence which is precisely what this woman was doing.

30 Nov 2011 08:22a.m.

Khloe wrote:

i totally agree wif the mum melissa..i was bullied wen i was young so i understnd where that mother is coming from if i had tld my mum she wud of done the same thing but instead i was afraid n didnt tell no-one n dats why the bullying kept on goin on!! =( it wasnt til i hit college n made friends with alot of people n had my older sister there with me i was no longer bullied..and i know every mother would agree with me if i say as a mother myself i would defntly wnt to take action myslf if anyone was to lay a hand on my child!!!im sick of all those bullies out there getting away with it just because they dont live in a steady houshold or have experienced bad things in there own homes thats no excuse to take their anger out on others thats what councilors are for??

29 Nov 2011 11:11p.m.

mzer wrote:

Dan, you are an idiot. Clearly you don't have children. If some assaulted my children I also would deal to them. Good job Mellissa. Hopefully the judge will see that as well.

29 Nov 2011 07:43p.m.

Dan wrote:

@ JN: Unless her daughter was in imminent danger at the time the woman attacked one of the girls then this is a clear cut case of assault. The mere fact she chased one of them down shows that this is not defence of others.

29 Nov 2011 05:59p.m.

nigel wrote:

Dan it has the “flavour “of self defence and highlights an even more important notion amongst others, the fundamental right of a parent to protect their child. The Law is an artifice created to outline and protect the rights of humanity as its simplest description. We need to be careful that the Law does not take on a life of its own and take precedence over the rights of the people it was designed to protect.

29 Nov 2011 03:15p.m.

JN wrote:

Melissa is a great mum that was just looking out for her kid like most of us would. Far too much of this bullying goes on in our schools and outside of them. The PC brigade will be saying what terrible homes those poor girls that do the bullying come from and sympathise with them. It's time we got tough on them and accept they have committed common criminal assault and if it's not stopped now goodness knows where it will end. It's common thuggery. We need to make a stand against it and this mum on spur of the moment could not stand to see what had been done to her girl and I would have to say who can blame her, not that I advocate we all should take the law into our own hands, but you do see red when you see what has been done to your kid and know how much they get away with. Schools can only do so much to prevent this, but get the criminals charged and dealt with like any other adult thugs. They do know right from wrong. Our kids should feel safe when we send them to school. Melissa was acting in defence of her child and should demand that those four girls be charged with assault. Let's stop pussy footing around and charge other school bully's and get this behaviour stamped out. Our jails are no doubt full of those who got away with bullying at school.

29 Nov 2011 02:48p.m.

Dan wrote:

Some of the responses here are unbelievable. Yes the bullies should be punished but so should this mother because she BROKE THE LAW. The bullies are culpable but so is she. There is no defence to her actions because provocation is no defence to assault and this certainly was not self-defence or defence of others. She should not get a free pass on her unlawful conduct.

29 Nov 2011 01:57p.m.

jan wrote:

I would of probably done the same on impulse, but remember the sue bradford law about not hitting kids?, 14 is concidered to still be a child. But I agree with Neil, but doubt that would be the outcome.