Student hit teacher with trash can

A 16-year-old student who hit his teacher with a trash can was given a conditional discharge today.

Tristan Hollis was in Gregory Sargent's class at the Berkeley Institute at 2pm on May 10 when he was asked to leave.

A few minutes later, the class heard Hollis shouting in the hallway. Another student rushed out of the room and Mr Sargent followed. When he got to the hallway, Mr Sargent saw the two students in a heated exchange.

The teacher started to move the students away from each other but prosecutor Garrett Byrne said that after taking a few steps, Mr Sargent felt a “blow” on the back of his head after being hit "with a large rubber trash can".

The court heard Mr Sargent then asked Hollis to come to his office, but the defendant said: “I don’t care. I’m gonna kill that f**king boy”.

Duty Counsel Michaela Clemens, mitigating for Hollis, said: “He didn't mean to hit his teacher. He was angry about an altercation that occurred with another student.

“When he went to pick up the trash can and hit the student, he hit the teacher. He does apologise to the court and he is remorseful that he got so angry.”

The court heard Hollis was expelled as a result of this incident and is now at the Adult Education Centre to prepare for his GED exam.

Sentencing him, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said: “You have already been punished by being expelled from school. I'm going to deal with this by way of conditional discharge. It¹s not a slap on the wrist. It¹s an opportunity for you to see the light and not behave in this way in the future.”