Ex-Wales rugby player denies grabbing schoolchild

A former Wales rugby player accused of assaulting a child told a court he "hates" having to restrain children but it was "not always possible to de-escalate" a situation.

Mathew Back, 53, of Miskin, Rhondda Cynon Taf, who played four times for Wales, has been a teacher since 1994.

Cardiff Crown Court previously heard a bruise was found on the arm of a primary school child after being in Mr Back’s care.

He told the court he did not "grab" the child by the arm at any point, but "escorted him by the torso" to a sofa in the classroom.

The prosecution claimed Mr Back "lost control" as the boy was taken to calm down after lashing out at teaching assistants.

The jury has seen CCTV footage of a moment where the assault is alleged to have taken place and the boy can be seen throwing his shoes at Mr Back and trying to hit him.

Mr Back said the boy expressed "huge aggression to female staff" and a lot of them did not want to work with him.

He said the boy would have "big, violent outbursts quite often" and his behaviour on the day in question was "relatively poor".

Mr Back said staff "heard a ruckus and went to investigate" and two children had to be separated after the boy drew images of another child’s mother covered in blood and shouted abuse for about 20 minutes.

He told the jury the other child was becoming increasingly distressed and he tried to "de-escalate" the situation by discussing the boy’s successes with him.

He said that worked to a certain extent but he took the decision to remove the paper from the boy and take him to a sofa to "chill out" as the technique had previously worked.

The court heard the boy was kicking and trying to grab at the female members of staff, so Mr Back moved him to another area of the classroom.

Mr Back said when pupils have high levels of aggression, it was "not always possible" to follow the "team teach" methods for controlling behaviour.

When the boy tried to hit him, Mr Back said he tried to deflect his punches and - on one occasion - took hold of the boy "on his torso under his armpits".

He said he used the "caring C" technique to control and move his limbs between his thumb and forefinger.

After the boy had left for the day, the teachers had a routine meeting and Mr Back said he raised the incident as "the first topic of conversation".

The trial continues.