A New Zealand teacher has been charged for punching a student in the face after the 13-year-old said he had a "moustache like a paedophile would".

The unnamed male teacher was playing touch football for the college social team at the time of the incident—which took place in 2018—while the student watched from the sideline. A statement from New Zealand’s Teaching Council this week revealed that as “Teacher K” came off the field “Student B” accused him of having a pedophile moustache. Teacher K then approached the student and asked him if he wanted a smack in the face—to which the student replied, “yes, right here” and pointed at his cheek.

“Teacher K then punched Student B once with a closed fist,” the statement reads.

The teacher reportedly walked away after hitting the teen, before coming back over and saying “you're not laughing now”. He has since been charged with assault by police and referred to the Teaching Council Disciplinary Tribunal. The boy was mostly unharmed.

In his own defence, the teacher said he was frustrated that the student had continued to tease him about his moustache—the teen had allegedly made a similar comment the day before—and noted that it was upsetting as a male teacher to be called a paedophile. He also claimed to be receiving ongoing counselling and medication for depression and anxiety.

The Tribunal was ultimately unsympathetic to this defense, however, and insisted in their verdict that “a teacher needs to be above such an emotive and knee-jerk reaction”.

“Punching a child’s head is a very serious matter,” they declared. “We recognise that [Teacher K] was offended by the student’s jibes about his moustache, but just as a student cannot retaliate towards another student in this manner, neither can a teacher.”