Teacher hit student with book, threatened to ‘kill’ colleague

Former Ōkaihau College teacher Alan Carson told a student to “f*** off” before grabbing the child by the neck of their sweatshirt and hitting them on the head with a book.

In his explanation to the school principal, the Northland teacher said the student was being “very wilful”. He apologised for the incident but said he felt it was “inevitable”.

It was not the first time Carson had behaved aggressively at the school.

He had previously aggressively grabbed another teacher and, during a fire alarm, forcibly pulled open a door being held shut by a teacher and shouted, “If you do that again, I will f**king kill you”, without knowing who was on the other side.

Carson has now had his registration cancelled by the Teacher’s Disciplinary Tribunal after being found guilty of two charges of serious misconduct.

Tribunal chair Jamie O’Sullivan said in her decision released today that Carson’s conduct was “disrespectful, inappropriate, and inconsistent with the standards expected of the profession”.

The first charge related to three incidents between November 2020 and July 2022.

In the first, Carson was upset about being omitted from a school camp and responded angrily to a teacher, who found his tone and body language threatening and was left shaken and distressed.

Later that day, Carson went to the teacher’s classroom and, after being asked to leave, placed a hand on her shoulder. His tone and body language again became aggressive.

In the second incident, Carson confronted another teacher after a meeting at a marae, shouting and swearing at her while standing close to her. When the teacher turned to walk back towards the marae, Carson grabbed her shoulder or the hood of her sweatshirt to stop her.

The final incident occurred during a fire alarm.

The teacher involved in the previous incident held her classroom door shut to keep a difficult Year 8 class inside so the students could be released in an orderly way.

Carson, the fire warden for the block, was concerned the alarm might be genuine and forcibly pulled the door open, hurting the teacher’s shoulder and almost causing her to lose her balance.

He shouted the death threat, not knowing who was holding the door. He then shouted, “Leave your bloody bags” at the students as they left.

Carson admitted his actions were inappropriate and caused distress. He accepted that stress, difficulties with anger management, and depression contributed to his behaviour.

The second charge involved an incident with a Year 8 student in 2024. The student, who had significant behavioural challenges, was late to class and did not have their books.

Carson raised his voice and stood close to the student, who told him to “get the f*** out of my face”.

Carson told the student to “f*** off”, grabbed them and pulled them up by the jersey. The student responded with “f*** you”, and Carson then hit them on the head with their exercise book.

The student left the classroom crying.

Carson resigned from the college on November 12, 2024, and has since retired from teaching, with no intention of returning, the decision said.

It was also not his first disciplinary finding. Carson was censured in 2018 for placing his arm around the upper body and neck of an intoxicated female student while trying to remove her from a classroom and for calling her a “dumb arse” for drinking at school.

“Teaching requires emotional regulation, professional judgment, and respectful interactions with colleagues and learners,” O’Sullivan said.

“Aggressive and intimidating conduct towards colleagues, and physically intrusive conduct such as grabbing a colleague, are serious departures from expected professional standards.”

As well as having his registration cancelled, Carson was censured and ordered to pay $6213.11 in costs.

The college has been approached for comment.

Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.