Michael Kable, Maitland Grossman High Teacher, issues shock confession over alleged brawl
A high school teacher has admitted he “did the wrong thing” by getting involved in a fight with students while tending to an injured right hand who is now wrapped in bandages.
Michael Kable, 62, was issued a warrant for his arrest and charged with common assault on Tuesday evening after an altercation at Maitland Grossman High School, near Newcastle, which was caught on video and went viral.
The video showed Mr. Kable grabbing a student by his shirt and pulling him over a desk, before another student threw another desk at him.
On Thursday morning, Daily Mail Australia spoke to Mr Kable outside his suburban home just outside Newcastle.
Kable looked remarkably calm for someone who is out on bail and due to appear in court next month and is at the center of a media frenzy.
“In the end I did something wrong,” he said.
Michael Kable, 62, is pictured outside his home with a large bandage on his right wrist
Mr Kable (pictured) is accused of grabbing a student and pulling him over a desk in a classroom
Mr Kable said he really appreciated the support he’s received online – with more than 5,000 people signing a petition on Change.org claiming the video failed to show the context of the altercation; that he was ‘insulted’ and regularly physically and verbally abused by students.
Mr. Kable has family in the area and said they were watching him, but he took responsibility for what happened.
“It’s nice to see there’s support,” he added.
“But I put myself in this situation.”
He also said managing difficult students was “just part of teaching,” and dismissed widespread rumors in the local community that his ties had been cut.
A second video of the alleged brawl emerged on Wednesday evening showing Mr Kable in the moments leading up to the incident.
The footage showed the teacher holding a handful of paper balls that appeared to have been thrown at him by a student during class.
The teacher can then be heard saying ‘do you understand me? Stop it,” before the student throws another paper ball at him.
The video then shows students yelling at the teacher before a table was thrown at him.
Michael Kable is pictured outside his home on Thursday with a broken knuckle (pictured)
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Maitland Grossmann High School for comment as the Department of Education investigates.
“We don’t condone the boys’ behavior,” the teenage boy’s mother told Nine News on Wednesday.
“This does not alter the fact that a teacher has never, ever the right to lay his hand on a student.”
A parent of one of the high school students said she was “shocked” by the video and plans to send her child elsewhere.
“We saw the video yesterday, our daughter spread it on social media,” she said.
“We are now looking for other schools for her.
“It’s scary, what if that was my little girl?”
A second video of Michael Kable (pictured), who allegedly assaulted his student, reveals what happened in the moments leading up to the alleged assault
A petition has been launched to support Mr Kable after he was charged with assault and given an assault warrant
At around 10pm on Tuesday night, a petition was launched urging people to support Mr Kable.
“Throughout his career, Mr. Kable has suffered countless and countless amounts of verbal and physical abuse from students,” an anonymous author of the petition claims.
“But because of the weak and inconsistent punishment system at school, they only get a ‘slap on the wrist’ as punishment.”
The creator of the petition then claimed that students are deliberately getting into trouble in an attempt to get a suspension from school.