A MAN who shoved a primary school principal against a wall then barged into her when she tried to remove him from school grounds was fined $1000 over the “shameful” assault.

Kevin Steele and his former partner were called to East Waikiki Primary School in August 2015 for a meeting about the woman’s Year 1 son.

The landscaper, who has completed several anger management courses, was angry and abusive from the moment he walked into the office about 2.30pm.

After yelling and swearing at principal Kylie Moss in front of the child, Steele pushed her against a wall by shoving her in the chest.

He then used his shoulder to barge into Ms Moss as she tried to usher him off school grounds, causing her to fall against a library wall in front of staff.

Ms Moss was so terrified by the incident that she requested the help of police and called for the southern suburbs school to be locked down.

Steele initially denied a charge of assaulting a public officer but changed his plea to guilty when he appeared in Rockingham Magistrate’s Court.

Magistrate Leanne Atkins described his behaviour as “shameful and quite distressing” before fining him $1000.

She said Steele had shown a complete disregard for the wellbeing of students on the day of the attack.

Ms Atkins ordered Steele to pay the fine to Ms Moss, saying the educator regularly dealt with upset parents and had a tough job to do.

The court was told Steele had not been convicted of a violent offence since 2011 but had breached violence restraining orders in 2014 and 2015.

“You have been out of trouble for some time now so I trust I won’t be seeing you again,” Ms Atkins said.

Steele claimed Ms Moss and his former partner were being aggressive and said he tried to stand between them because he was worried about the child.

“I was more concerned for the child,” he said.

“I barged in between using my shoulder and my chest. It was my priority to defuse the situation in front of the child.”

Education Department acting deputy director-general for schools Lindsay Hale said the actions of Steele were reprehensible and had caused great distress.

“Our school staff have every right to feel safe at work and we back them completely to report to police any violent behaviour directed at them by members of the community,” he said.