PRIMARY schoolteacher Catherine Brandley, convicted of common assault after prodding a pupil, spoke this week of the support she received when the court case drove her to the brink of suicide.

The 52-year-old mother of four has been suspended from school for more than a year. As the case dragged on, she took a drug overdose and suffered two panic attacks, all resulting in hospital treatment.

Last week, Chester Crown Court quashed a 140-hour community service order and gave her a two-year conditional discharge but stood by a ruling that the teacher from Congleton, Cheshire, pay the nine-year-old boy pound;100 in compensation.

A well-wisher has already given the cash and Mrs Brandley and her 53-year-old husband Michael this week told The TES that they had been overwhelmed by messages of support - often from strangers. “I have had an awful lot of love,” said Mrs Brandley. “Children have come up in the street and thrown their arms around me.

“I know in my heart that I have always acted honourably and that the vast majority of right-minded people support me. I have been moved to tears by letters and donations I have received.”

Mrs Brandley denied she had assaulted the boy, who has an attention deficit disorder. She was said to have lost her temper with the boy - who admitted misbehaving - and prodded him in the chest.

It was alleged that she pulled him off his chair by his shirt, prodded him in the chest and pushed him against a wall, banging his head in an incident last September.

At her appeal last week the crown court heard that the boy sustained no injuries other than a slight headache the next day.

His mother pushed for the court action after receiving no assurances that Mrs Brandley, who had taught in the school for four days before the alleged incident last September, would be disciplined.

The court heard last week that Mrs Brandley should not work again as a teacher. She said:“I can see no end to this other than the sack. I feel very sad that my career is coming to an end in this way.”

Her physicist husband lost his job as a safety analyst as the court case, adjourned three times for a total of 16 weeks, took its toll. He suffered hypertension and took days off work to support his wife. The couple face court bills of about pound;3,500.

The National Union of Teachers is negotiating with Cheshire County Council, although Mrs Brandley has been deemed too ill to attend meetings with the authority’s occupational health officer.

The council is to carry out an inquiry to determine whether Mrs Brandley had breached her code of conduct, and dependent on the results, her future with the school.

Her husband this week began a new job in the Netherlands as the last of the couple’s four children left home to go to university.

“I can’t see anything in front of me,” she said. “I will never be able to work as a teacher again but I am relieved that it’s over. I haven’t been able to clear my name but I want to draw a line under this because of the support I have had.

“I don’t feel bitterness towards any child but I do against the system and the parents. The action of one child and his parents cannot destroy the happy memories that I have. Nor can it destroy me.”

But she warned other teachers: “Be cautious in your dealings with parents and beware of teaching children with known behavioural problems, without the additional support that is required to keep all pupils and teachers safe.

“I have had one devastating experience in 30 years of teaching but I still believe that working with children is very worthwhile and a privileged profession.”