Two students who had a dispute with a teacher have been found guilty of defacing his new car by splashing paint on its right side.

The teacher filed a complaint at Nira police station in Al-Makhwah in Al-Baha province, saying that his car, a 2013 SUV, was damaged while parked in front of the Prince Naif school complex in Nira.

Lt. Bandar Abdulrahman Abdul Hadi, deputy spokesman of Baha police, said that investigators found that the two students, aged 19 and 17, were involved in the crime.

The first accused had confessed to committing the crime during interrogation, and said that he did so because he wanted to get even after having an argument with the teacher.

Abdul Hadi said the police arrested the first defendant, while the other underage student was referred to the Social Observation Home in Baha. He said the police referred the case to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.

Director of Baha police Brig. Mosfer Al-Khathaami said the case does not represent a pattern of behavior, and there was no need for the police to station officers outside every school.

“The fact is that schools are incubators of education, we expect positive, peaceful outputs from them. But if the school headmaster feels that some problems are about to happen, or are happening, our role and responsibility is to step forward immediately and assume our duties,” he said.

Director of Education in Al-Makhwah Ali Khairan Al-Zahrani confirmed the incident and said it was referred to the security authorities for further action. He said officials are handling the matter in line with Ministry of Education regulations.

The social worker at Prince Naif complex would not comment, but said the teacher did not turn up for teaching the following day.

In a related issue, a teacher who had assaulted a third grade student at a school in Makkah, resolved the incident amicably with the student's parent.

The teacher apologized for his behavior to the father, who is an education supervisor at the General Directorate of Education in Makkah. However, the department has formed a committee to investigate the incident.