A Bradford nursery has issued a statement after a four-year-old boy was reportedly poked in the eye with a metal snack knife.
Yahiya Berzeviczny, who has autism, was left with a painful bloodshot eye after the incident, which apparently involved another child.
He is now on a 21-day treatment programme involving antibiotic eye drops to be taken four times a day.
Canterbury Nursery School, which specialises in care for children with extra needs and disabilities, described the incident as “sad and deeply regrettable”.
The nursery said the safety of all its children was top priority and pointed to its long and successful history of care for children with special educational needs or disabilities.
But his mum Boglarka Begany now plans to take him out of the nursery and lodge a formal complaint.
The family claim it came one year after another child allegedly bit Yahiya on the back.
His grandmother Katalin Toth claimed the family had received numerous incident papers over the last year.
“They always say, ‘It’s happened in a moment’.
“We usually pick him up at 2.30pm and this happened at two o’ clock. They didn’t call us at all about the incident. We got a grey, small paper about it.
“On that day we spent about five hours in BRI.
“We spent five hours in Pinderfields because they couldn’t decide if he needs surgery on his eye.
“I said, ‘This a SEN school, how can it be there is any knives?’ Three or four SEN kids in a room using these tools, they should be more alert. This incident didn’t happen when it’s lunch time.
“It’s not about the children because they don’t really know what they’re doing."
Katalin added: “It’s always the same, it’s just happened in a moment.
“This is the last time.”
In a joint statement, the nursery’s co-head teachers Rachel Sowerby and Jackie Bracewell said: “This has been a sad and deeply regrettable incident that happened to one of our pupils that resulted in an injury.
“Our thoughts are with him and his family as he recovers. Our children and families are at the heart of everything we do at Canterbury and the safety of all our children is our top priority. We have a long and successful history of support and care for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
“As soon as the incident happened, we took immediate action to ensure that the pupil received the appropriate medical attention. We also informed the family and have been in touch with them throughout.
“Our initial investigation has shown that policy and procedures were followed, including the reporting of the incident to the local authority.
“We have thoroughly reassessed our processes following this incident and will comply with any further investigations deemed necessary. The family also notified the police who have investigated the incident. We supported officers with their inquiries and were satisfied with their conclusion that no further action was necessary.
“The family have been advised of our complaints process and will be supported should they wish to use this. We will continue to meet with the family and work with them to seek a resolution.”
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.
Sign up to our newsletter to get updates sent straight to your inbox.
Have you got a story for us? Email newsdesk@telegraphandargus.co.uk, contact us here or call us on 01274 705292.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article