A TEACHER told a court she was "certain" a child's bruise was caused by a former Wales international rugby player stands accused of committing actual bodily harm.
Full-back Matthew Back, 53, made his debut for the Dragons against France in 1995 and played four times for his country.
However Back finds himself in a completely different position here, in the dock being accused of attacking a child.
The incident is alleged to have taken place in November 2021 when Back was a teacher at a school in Caerphilly County Borough.
Yesterday, July 25, was day two of Back’s trial and in exchanges in court, one of the teachers who was in the classroom and who saw the alleged attack said she was certain the bruise to the pupil came from the hand of Back.
The teacher said, “It’s fair to say the bruise came from the grab,” before adding “I am certain it was from the grab”, to which Back’s defence attorney Harriet Ealden countered “you are just speculating.”
It was said that Back was sitting at his desk in the classroom arguing with the boy with both voices raised.
The boy in question was described as having ‘complicated needs’, being ‘extremely violent' at times and displaying sexual behaviour towards staff, sometimes trying to grab their genitalia.
It was said there were incidents with the boy most days and it was common for him to misbehave.
Back played four times for Wales (Image: Supplied)
On day one, in their opening statement, prosecutor Christopher Evans gave a short gist of the alleged incident to the jury.
“The victim was in school, approaching the end of the day when Mr Back snatched paper, his drawing, out of his hands.
“The student became angry at this, which led to Mr Back issuing unlawful, inexcusable and beyond justified means of restrain.
“Mr Back grabbed the child’s arm area and manhandled him in what was not a proper attempt to deescalate the situation.”
The schoolboy's parents were witnesses in day one. The mother explained her son has special needs, whereby his difficulties include “attachment disorder, and so he spends a lot of time in survival mode.”
The parents documented the bruise on their child’s arm with multiple pictures taken over a few days, and raised concerns with the school with the matter was investigated further and three people, including Back, suspended.
The trial continues.
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