Kids' coats mix-up led to violence at nursery

AN INNOCENT mix-up over children’s coats ended in a bloodied dad fainting in a Tyneside nursery after being headbutted by the father of another youngster.

- By ROB KENNEDY Court Reporter

The victim's son had returned home from the Hebburn nursery wearing a blue Berghaus coat which was very similar to his own but was for a child aged five to six rather than two to three.

That coat belonged to the son of Stephen Flynn, and both families had returned the wrong coats to the nursery.

However, the victim then accused Flynn of having stolen his son’s coat, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Around 9am on December 20, 2023, he took his child to the Sue Hedley Nursery School and Flynn was there with his son.

Stuart Graham, prosecuting, said: “The complainant believed Mr Flynn’s child was wearing his child’s coat, which was still missing at that point. On leaving, the complainant confronted him, saying, ‘it was you that got the coats mixed up’ and he was told, ‘it’s my child’s coat.”

Outside, the victim said he noticed Flynn’s car appear next to him. A witness described the victim calling Flynn a thief and accusing him of taking his child’s coat and there was a “heated discussion”.