A female teacher at an exclusive Brisbane school was allegedly surrounded by a baying mob of 300 'excited' boys who chanted threats as they stood over her and pelted her with food and drink bottles, court documents say.

The boys were in 'a high state of excitement and agitation' as they encircled the much smaller woman and blocked her escape, according to material filed in the Supreme Court of Queensland.

The allegedly out-of-control incident saw large boys standing on benches and tables over the trapped woman, yelling 'charge' and throwing apples, carrots and drinks, including a full carton of strawberry milk, per the documents.

Hit by the volley of missiles and trapped by screaming Year 11 boys, the terrified teacher claimed in the documents that she was caught 'in a cauldron', according to the documents.

Victoria Sparrow, who was then aged 35, says she has not worked since, has PTSD, panics in a crowd, and has flashbacks and dreams about what allegedly happened.

The 'mob mentality' attack was allegedly an escalation of misogynistic attitudes at the $45,000-a-year boys' school Marist College Ashgrove, per the court material.

The school has been ordered to hand over documents which Sparrow's legal team claims will show an alleged 'culture of misogyny' and 'sexual harassment' of female staff, after six teachers filed complaints.

These documents form part of the civil suit Victoria Sparrow has taken against the school and its governing body, Marist Schools Australia Pty Ltd (MSA).

Marist Schools is the governing body of 12 schools across Australia. Ashgrove alumni include former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who was a boarder from 1969 to 1971. 

Affidavits obtained by the Daily Mail described other attacks on women teachers, threats against male staff and their families, and the school's governing board describing Ms Sparrow's account of the attack as 'a scandalous allegation'.

In one incident described in the court documents, a female teacher who took a group of boys on a field trip to the Mt Coot-tha lookout outside Brisbane was allegedly spied on by them when she used a bathroom during the trip.

An affidavit by former teacher Madonna Spillane, included in the court material, alleges that 'on an excursion Ms PFM was going to the toilet and boys were taking photographs of her. Boys even hopped on the shoulders of one another to take photos of her in a cubicle.'

Spillane claimed in the documents that 'sexual harassment and the adverse treatment and intimidation of women by students had developed and continued to grow' to the point that the male students 'knew they had the upper hand'.

In her affidavit, Spillane also recounted a staff meeting following the incident in which, she claimed, Head of College Michael Newman said 'boys will be boys'. She further alleged Newman and lawyers for MSA sought to downplay and dismiss the incident.

One teacher, under the pseudonym Ms ZAY, was allegedly the subject of 'numerous gross and offensive comments' that were 'sexist and demeaning' towards her during a COVID-era Zoom lesson, per the documents.

Additionally, the court material claims that a female teacher was harassed by Year 11 boys while supervising the students on playground duty, while another was badly treated by Year 9 boys at a camp.

Per the documents, a male teacher known as Mr RMTY had allegedly been physically threatened when he 'was sought out in the privacy of the staff room by a very large male student who chose to come in seeking out Mr RMTY... and then actively threatened to hurt Mr RMTY and his family... [and] told Mr RMTY he knew where he lived.'

The events leading up to the alleged incident involving Victoria Sparrow began on the morning of October 27, 2023.

It was the day after Sparrow's 35th birthday, and she was rostered on playground duty, something all teachers shared as part of their work at the school.

Sparrow, who had been highly regarded at her previous employer, St Stanislaus College boys' school in Bathurst, had moved to Brisbane with her husband.

On the day - a Friday - Sparrow's older colleague Ms Spillane noted that rumours had started as early as Break 1 (morning tea break) that there would be a fight between two Year 11 students, according to the documents, and that 'word spread very quickly' because 'nothing excites students more than the prospect of a fight’.

It is then alleged that hundreds of students in a state of heightened agitation ran to the area where they expected the fight would be.

They congregated between the Centre of Learning Excellence - the CLE Building - and the lockers belonging to boys from the school's Ephrem House towards the western side of the school campus, the documents state.

A thunderstorm was approaching and Marist had protocols to deal with extreme weather to keep students safe when they huddled together out of the wet.

According to the affidavit of teacher Claire Creevey, included in the court material, Sparrow moved to the area in question and tried to address the conduct of the excited and expectant boys.

'Apart from word of mouth, the prospect of the fight spread among the students via their social media,' Madonna Spillane later affirmed, per the docs, adding: '[Teenage boys] will happily tell people about a fight being on.'

What allegedly followed, per the Supreme Court documents, was a gathering of young men in numbers that were 'particularly large in certain circumstances' and in a 'particularly volatile' situation, with students being 'egged on by others'.

As Sparrow moved in, Creevey alleges in the court material, she 'was completely encircled by the students. Creevey added: 'Many of the students were larger than her and some were standing on benches and tables above her... very close. The path she would usually be able to exit was blocked by the students. Students were focused on her, chanting and throwing food and drink, some of which hit her.'

One schoolboy chucked the full strawberry milk, per the documents filed to the court, and an apple would later be found in Sparrow's hair.

Apart from the boy allegedly screaming 'charge', another was chanting and yelling at Sparrow, 'Let's get this culture started, Miss!' according to the docs. Furthermore, a male teacher close ‘to Victoria when she was surrounded was so intimidated… [that] he ceased attempting to intervene because he thought he was at risk of being hurt.' 

It is claimed in the court material that a frightened Sparrow yelled at the students that a senior male teacher was coming, after which the students began to back down; however, one of the boys expected to be involved in the fight then arrived and the 'Year 11 boys made a tunnel for him and the crowd started to return'.

In one statement to the court, teacher Ryan Apps claimed: 'I have seen mob mentality at Marist College Ashgrove when a fight occurs, but I have never seen this vibe before.' 

When the crowd eventually dispersed, Ms Sparrow was so shaken that she had to be driven home by another teacher, the documents state. She never returned to school and, in her claim against the school and its board, says she cannot work at any job because the incident was so traumatising that she suffered 'serious psychiatric injury'.

A month after the alleged attack, the Queensland teachers' union sent a letter to Michael Newman, the Head of College, about Ms Sparrow's allegations.

He responded by saying that 'no staff member was circled, no one was physically assaulted, food was not thrown at a teacher, no fight was in progress'.

The documents before the Supreme Court in Sparrow's legal action state that Newman was concerned about media coverage of the incident.

A letter to parents said there were 'factually incorrect' assertions being made afterwards, and MSA's lawyers claimed in correspondence that some of Sparrow's account amounted to 'scandalous allegations'.

Allegations of negligence by the school and a 'culture of misogyny, poor behaviour, failure to maintain appropriate levels of discipline and inadequate emergency response' were rejected by the school and MSA's lawyers.

In a letter to the union, included in the court material, Mr Newman said that 'sensationalised' media reports suggesting these elements resulted in the incident were based on 'a floored [sic] premise'.

The Sparrow v Marist Schools Australia case is still before Supreme Court Justice Patrick McCafferty KC in Brisbane for hearings.

The school's director of public relations issued a statement last month to the Daily Mail saying that 'at the time this incident occurred three years ago... the college reached out to all the parents.

'The matter was dealt with under our Student Behaviour Management Policy.

'Marist College Ashgrove is firmly committed to fostering a culture of respect, inclusion and accountability.

'Our comprehensive Student Welfare program... ensures we develop well-rounded young men who have respect for the personal dignity of all.'

On Monday, Justice McCafferty ordered that the school hand over years of internal complaints.

He ordered Marist College hand over nine categories of documents which Sparrow's lawyers argue reveal 'a culture of misogyny' and 'sexual harassment'.

The documents included complaints from six separate teachers regarding their 'treatment by students' prior to the food pelting incident, and meeting minutes dating back to 2021 which reference a years-long 'decline in student behaviour'.