The Supreme Court of Justice of Cataluña has ordered the regional Education department to pay €12,000 euros in compensation to a supply teacher attacked by a pupil during a temporary stint at the Baldiri Guilera Institute in El Prat de Llobregat back in 2004.

The settlement is substantially more than the €1,500 originally awarded by the regional authority and takes into account the fact that the victim had not been warned in advance about the boy's behavioural problems.

During the assault, which took place in front of the rest of the class, the boy punched the woman in the face, grabbed her round the throat while pinning her against the wall with his knee.

While recognising that the victim would continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress, and that the attack was sufficiently serious for her to miss work for up to a maximum of four months, the court dismissed the woman's case for permanent disability pay and her original €392,700 euro compensation claim.