London, April 27 (ANI): A science teacher shouted “die, die, die” at a 14 year-old student while hitting the teen on his head with a 3kg dumbbell after the boy swore at him in class, a British court was told.

Peter Harvey, 50, is said to have beaten up the pupil after he began “sword fighting” a classmate with a wooden ruler while the former was trying to maintain order during a lesson for year 9 pupils.

Harvey flew into a rage when the boy picked up a Bunsen burner and told him to “f— off”.

Other students in Harvey”s class at All Saints” Roman Catholic School, Mansfield revealed how he dragged the boy out of the class and down the corridor.

One pupil said the teacher hit the boy on his head until his blood was “everywhere”.

Harvey is also said to have kicked a girl with behavioural problems last June and threatened to kill another female student who told him he was having a “mental breakdown”.

However, Stuart Rafferty QC, prosecuting, told the Nottingham Crown Court that Harvey was “well, happy and in a positive frame of mind” on the morning of the attack.

“A girl who had behaviour difficulties was being disruptive and was messing about with a white board and then started messing about with a window blind,” the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

Rafferty went on: “He told her to stop and there were words between them. He seems to have pulled her away from the window by her bag on her shoulder and shouted at her and it was alleged he kicked her.

“She left the classroom in a state of tears and some of the class took exception to the way she had been treated and started calling him a psycho. He didn”t seem to respond to that and told the class to get on with their work.”

He said the 14 year-old-boy, whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, legal reasons then began to “mess around” with a wooden metre rule.

Rafferty said: “He was wandering about the classroom with it, sword fighting with another pupil, that sort of high jinx.

“He told him to put it down and he did. The boy then took out a metal Bunsen burner stand and was waving it about in a similar way.

“Mr Harvey chased him around the classroom and it came to a point when the boy told him to ”f*** off”.

“That seems to have lit the blue touch paper because Mr Harvey grabbed him by his collar and started dragging him out of the classroom.”

Rafferty continued: “He threw him to the ground and armed himself with a 3kg dumbbell and began to hit the boy about the head with it.

“He struck at least two blows to the head which caused serious injury, really serious injury.

“At the time the blows were being struck Mr Harvey was only heard to say one thing. What he was saying was ”die, die, die”.”

A 15-year-old girl, who followed Harvey down the corridor with the boy, said: “He grabbed a weight and hit him on the head constantly,” she said in a videotaped interview played to the court. “He didn”t stop and blood was everywhere. Everyone was screaming and then two people went and got teachers.”

The boy suffered a fractured right temple bone and severe cuts to his head in the attack.

Rafferty criticised Harvey for assaulting the boy, saying: “In any civilised society or culture, two wrongs do not make a right.

“There was simply no excuse for what happened.”

Harvey, who had teaching at All Saints” for 16 years, has admitted one count of grievous bodily harm without intent but denies a charge of attempted murder and an alternative charge of grievous bodily harm with intent to cause serious injury. (ANI)