His mother said he rarely went out, had no friends, and was on a pension.

"He just locks himself in his room playing PlayStation games," she said.



AAP reports: While the exact amount of damages has not yet been calculated, Mr Cox's legal team expects it to be about $1 million, thought to be a record in a school bullying case.



Today's climax of the case coincided with a Federal Government move to give teachers and principals more power to address schoolyard bullying, and provide parents with more information about discipline, bullying and poor behaviour.



Mr Cox's case might also open the way for substantial damages awards for other bullying victims, lawyers said.



Mrs Cox gave evidence of her son becoming "absolutely petrified" of going to school, particularly after his tormentor tried to strangle him in February 1995.



When she complained about the school's inaction, she said a Department of Education officer told her "bullying builds character".



Her son continued to have nightmares and headaches, cried all the time and developed a severe stutter.



The little boy refused to use public toilets after telling his mother the older pupil jumped out from buildings - including the school toilets - and scared him.



Once she was called to the school office to find her son crying, with a lower tooth missing and a bleeding lip.



He told her the older boy had "tried to shove his jumper down his throat".



Justice Simpson accepted Mr Cox was subjected to "harassment, bullying and assault" at the hands of the other boy.



She also accepted that Mrs Cox made repeated attempts to have the school authorities intervene and control the conduct of the other boy.



"The staff made no attempt to deal with a serious problem," the judge added.



"The school authorities responded quite inadequately to an escalating problem and failed to take such steps as were reasonably required to protect [Mr Cox] from the conduct of a plainly behaviourally disturbed older pupil."



When Mrs Cox took her son out of the school in September 1995, she told the principal she was not going to submit him to any more bullying or hurting.



She said the principal told her: "You lose some kids and keep some."



Justice Simpson accepted psychiatric evidence that Mr Cox had been a "very vulnerable" boy, having a genetic predisposition to depression or other such conditions.



But she also accepted that the bullying was the initiating factor that led to his current condition - variously described as separation anxiety disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.