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Kent Teaching Assistant Jailed for Four Years Over Child Cruelty

The case highlights safeguarding failures for children with complex needs.

Overview

  • A Maidstone Crown Court judge sentenced Danuska Pullia, 47, to four years in prison for four counts of child cruelty.
  • Kent Police said colleagues reported that between September 2021 and July 2023 she hit, pinched and spat at pupils at a Sittingbourne school.
  • A video released by police shows her admitting she spat back at a child and pinched another pupil’s nose to pull food from their mouth.
  • In the same voluntary interview she said she had no training for that tactic and she denied or downplayed other allegations.
  • She pleaded not guilty when charged in December 2023, was unanimously convicted by a jury in November 2025, and was later described by the lead detective as a danger to children.