A mother-of-three assaulted a teenage pupil and teaching assistant after flying into a fit of rage during the daily school run, a court has heard.
Amina Seedat (39), lost her temper in a confrontation outside the city's Crown Hills Community College. Charged with two counts of common assault, she appeared before Leicester magistrates last Thursday, where she changed her plea to guilty at the last minute before the start of a scheduled trial. The court was told the incident occurred at about 3.15pm on May 19 this year, as children were leaving school for the day.
Morag Lawrie, prosecuting, said: "This was a particularly unfortunate incident arising out of something very small getting out of all proportion."
Seedat, who was returning to her car after collecting her son from a nearby primary school, became angry when her child was, she claimed, "barged" out of the way as a group of college students passed by.
Miss Lawrie said: "A teaching assistant was walking down the road with some of the pupils. The defendant confronted her saying words to the effect of 'why don't you teach your students some manners!"
The court heard that Seedat was verbally abusive to the teaching assistant when told to take the matter up with college authorities.
Miss Lawrie said: "She punched out with car keys in her hand, making contact with the forehead of one of the pupils, 16-year-old girl – causing her to stumble backwards and causing pain and bruising. The girl reacted by hitting the defendant to the shoulder area. The teaching assistant went to intervene and was slapped in the face."
Miss Lawrie said the teenage victim was still in pain five hours after the incident, while the teaching assistant had "reddening" to her face.
Charles Clark, defending, said Seedat has been angered by the "boisterous" behaviour of the older pupils. In mitigation, he said the defendant had been experiencing "stress and anxiety" due to being out of work at the time of the incident.
Seedat was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to each victim, £350 court costs and a £20 victim surcharge.
