I tried my best but I should not have been abused and battered for £11 an hour.. I was breaking inside

Support worker punched, kicked and slapped by 9-year-old

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

A SCHOOL support worker is suffering post traumatic stress disorder after being assaulted more than 100 times in the classroom.

In an 18-month-ordeal of violence and abuse, the 32-year-old woman was repeatedly punched, kicked, slapped and verbally abused by a nine-year-old boy, whose violent outbursts made him too disruptive to be taught in class.

The attacker, who has been diagnosed with autism, is in a mainstream primary school but is prone to sudden rages when he can lash out verbally and physically.

The pupil support assistant told how she was asked to help the boy with school work in a separate room away from his class.

The woman, who has asked not to be identified, said: "His teacher basically said he had to be taken out of class because he was so disruptive and I was asked to work with him alone.

"But virtually every day he would become enraged, kicking, punching, slapping, trashing the room, breaking windows, throwing chairs, overturning desks.

"Looking back, it is hard to believe it happened but even harder to believe it was allowed to continue for 18 months."

She added: "I was covered in bruises all the time, a million bruises, but the mental impact was worse than the physical injuries.

More than a year after leaving the school, she is still getting counselling and said her GP believes she has PTSD - a condition more usually experienced by battle-hardened forces veterans.