Saudi court jails school head for spitting at teacher

Cairo: A Saudi court had sentenced a school head to 10 days in prison after convicting him of spitting at a teacher, a local newspaper has reported.

The teacher had also accused the convict of pulling his beard and threatening him during a dispute at a school last year, the news portal Sabq said.

A court in the governorate of Rabigh, part of the Mecca region, handed down the defendant the ruling that was irreversibly confirmed by an appeals court, the report said.

Initially, the court had ordered the school head to offer an apology to the claimant, who later appealed against the verdict. In response, the court sentenced the offender to 10 days in prison. Neither the names nor ages of both parties to the case were disclosed.

Saudi law criminalises assaults on education institutions and employees, with penalties reaching up to 10 years in prison or a fine of SR1 million or both penalties.