Vancouver teacher suspended after student passes out from headlock

A Vancouver teacher has been suspended after putting a female student in a headlock in gym class, causing her to pass out.

According to documents from the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, Weldon Cheung was working as a high school teacher in School District 39 in Vancouver when the incident occurred.

The report says that Cheung was teaching a self-defence class in May 2017, when a 15-year-old female student asked if she could learn how to get out of a headlock.

Cheung then put the student in a headlock. According to the document, the student "described the hold being so tight that she could not breathe, causing her to struggle and panic and grab at Cheung's forearms."

Cheung and the student both fell to the ground with the student unconscious.

She later said her neck and shoulders were sore.

According to the document released last month, Cheung did not call the school's first aid attendant, contact school administration or tell the student's parents about the incident.

Not an isolated incident

Earlier in May, Cheung asked the same student to demonstrate the proper technique for a sit-up. The documents said that Cheung then hit her in the stomach several times with a closed fist, leaving her with bruises on her abdomen.

In September, the Vancouver School District issued Cheung a disciplinary letter and suspended him for 10 days without pay. In December, the B.C. Teachers Regulation Branch suspended Cheung for two more weeks.

According to a second document from the B.C. Teachers Regulation Branch, Cheung was also reprimanded in 2011 by the B.C. College of Teachers.

The document says he used inappropriate language while talking to a student about her relationship with her boyfriend, and referred to his own sexual relationships. At the time Cheung was told to complete the College's professional boundaries workshop.

Cheung's suspension began on January 8.