No jail for UK school assistant who shut girl in storeroom

A classroom assistant who carried out a five-month campaign of bullying against a seven-year-old pupil who was taped to her chair and shut in a storeroom has been spared jail in the UK.

Rachael Regan, 43, “singled out and bullied” the girl at a school in the Calderdale area of West Yorkshire.

Regan’s trial last month was told about a catalogue of incidents against the pupil, who is now nine, which included sticking Post-it notes to her thumbs, tying her shoes on with string, calling her a nickname, goading her with a biscuit, hiding her doll and tearing up her photograph.

Today, at Bradford Crown Court, Regan was given a community order including a requirement to do 40 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Neil Davey QC criticised the length of time the classroom assistant had been on bail before she was charged while the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided what to do.

Judge Davey said this wait was a punishment in itself, explaining that this was why he had not considered a prison sentence.