School Psychologist Agni Angelkovska on Trial for Assaulting 12-year-old Autistic Student

December 11, 2018

A psychologist at a prestigious private boys’ school twice assaulted an autistic 12-year-old during a “meltdown,” telling him he had “picked the wrong woman to mess with” and that she would “pummel” him, a court was told yesterday.

Agni Angelkovska, 50, is on trial accused of slapping the student in the face with the boy’s own hand and throwing a cup of water at him during an incident at Christ Church Grammar School in November 2014.

Dr. Angelkovska denies the allegations, saying she drank the water and that the boy, who was prone to violent outbursts, was accidentally struck by his own hand during a struggle.

School staff yesterday told Perth Magistrate’s Court that during the alleged 20-minute ordeal, Dr. Angelkovska pinned the boy on a couch and held an arm across his throat as he whimpered, telling her he could not breathe.

Prosecutors say the boy, whom The West Australian has chosen not to name, had earlier had a “meltdown,” throwing witches hats and kicking a motorcycle when he was told he could not take a bus to play sport because of an earlier incident.

The court was told four staff members had to carry the boy to a sensory room at the Claremont school’s special needs centre where he calmed down.

But giving evidence yesterday, then education assistant Susan Ashby said the boy became agitated again after Dr. Angelkovska arrived and made comments prosecutors said were “deliberately designed to provoke him.”

Ms. Ashby said Dr. Angelkovska told him his behavior would not be tolerated at the senior school and “should he behave like this next year, the Year 12 boys would pummel him and beat him to a pulp.”

Dr. Angelkovska, who also uses Anne as her first name and was the head of psychology and special needs services, allegedly told the boy he would not be going into mainstream classes — which would have “devastated” him, Ms. Ashby said.

She that when the boy started throwing items, Dr. Angelkovska “very forcefully” said: “You will have to pick that up. You have picked the wrong woman to mess with.”

Ms. Ashby said that when the boy stepped towards Dr. Angelkovska with a hand raised, she said: “If you hit me, I’ll hit you twice as hard. If you hit me, I will pummel you, my boy.” Dr. Angelkovska threw the boy on to a couch and climbed on top of him, Ms. Ashby said, with the alleged victim saying, “You’re hurting me ... I can’t breathe.”

“He was whimpering, he was crying ... saying he was being hurt,” Ms. Ashby said.

Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Simon Freitag, Ms. Ashby agreed she did not see any slapping motions.

Teacher Lisa Venn said she was outside the sensory room when she heard “slapping noises” and Dr. Angelkovska saying: “How does that make you feel?”

Ms. Venn said she saw Dr. Angelkovska throw a cup of water, which hit the boy’s face and chest area.

In a statement read to the court, the boy’s mother said her son “shut down” and did not speak for four hours after she was called to pick him up.

The trial continues.

Source: “’You picked the wrong woman’ - school psychologist accused of assault, threats against autistic 12-year-old boy,” The West Australian, December 10, 2018, URL: https://thewest.com.au/news/court-justice/you-picked-the-wrong-woman---school-psychologist-accused-of-assault-threats-against-autistic-12-year-old-boy-ng-b881045545z