Found it

Landmark ruling opens door for bullying compo
By Kellie Lazzaro

Updated March 10, 2010 20:22:00
Bullying in schools

A landmark ruling by the Victorian Supreme Court has paved the way for victims of young bullies to seek compensation.

The court has overturned a decision by a Victims of Crime tribunal, which refused to compensate a girl who had been bullied because her attackers were under the age of 10.

But the victim's case for compensation will now be reheard after a Supreme Court judge ruled that young bullies can act violently with intent.

The bullying began in the form of swearing and insults when the girl was eight years old and in grade two at a state primary school in country Victoria.

But over the next four years it worsened when the main offender - a classmate known to the court as K - started threatening to kill her victim and threatening to have her uncles kill her.

She was menaced with scissors and a broken bottle and frequently punched, kicked and pinched.

At least three other girls would join in the abuse. She was chased at lunchtime and spat on, and injured her back when she was pushed off the monkey bars in the gym.

Her parents reported the bullying to police and, as a result, officers attended the school and gave an anti-bullying presentation.

But it was not until her parents withdrew her from the school in grade six that the bullying stopped.

They then sent her to a private secondary school that they struggled to afford.

The Victorian Supreme Court heard the girl - referred to in court as BVB - was in great fear, suffered nightmares, and did not want to go to school.

In evidence, a psychologist said the girl suffered significant anxiety and emotional distress as a result of the abuse.

A claim for compensation was lodged, not on the basis of bullying but on the grounds of allegations of threats to kill and assault.

The Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal knocked the claim back because under Victorian criminal law, children under the age of 10 years cannot commit a criminal offence as they are presumed too young to form criminal intent.

But Supreme Court Justice Tony Cavanough ruled that in BVB's case there was no suggestion that any of the incidents occurred accidently and that the main bully, K, fully intended, by her threats, to put her victim in fear of her life.

The president of the Crime Victims Support Association, Noel McNamara, says bullying is a significant problem in schools and society.

"We think that where there is violence and things committed or threatened then there should be a case to take it to the crimes compensation," he said.

He says this ruling will open up avenues of compensation for other victims.

"And of course then people will start to take it seriously," he said.

"It's sort of treated as a bit of a joke, I think, at a lot of places in the schools and that. But it has a big effect on the victims of these bullies and it needs to be stamped out one way or the other."

The Chairman of the National Centre Against Bullying and former chief justice of the Family Court, Alastair Nicholson has applauded the decision.

"These sorts of things are very serious to the recipient of them and a seven or eight-year-old girl could be quite terrified," he said.

The compensation claim will be reheard in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.