Updated ,first published
A teacher who launched a frenzied knife attack on a principal when his contract wasn’t renewed has been jailed for more than a year.
Kim Ramchen pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon, unlawful assault and intentionally causing injury over the incident at Keysborough Secondary College last year, where staff members intervened to save Aaron Sykes.
Magistrate Tim Bourke told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday that the 37-year-old’s offending was particularly serious because it happened in a school environment.
“The offending occurred in a safe place, in what should be a safe place, not only for students but workers and the broader school community,” he said.
Principal Sykes paid tribute to the staff who acted without hesitation to step between him and his attacker.
“Their courage and professionalism in an extremely difficult situation were extraordinary,” he said in a statement.
Those who helped included someone from the library team who provided the principal first aid, an assistant principal who intervened and someone on the business team who placed herself in harm’s way, Sykes said.
“It is important to recognise that in moments like these, people step forward with bravery and care. I am deeply grateful to them.”
The principal, who has yet to return to work, said he received messages of support from across the state and even the country.
“I have been humbled by the messages of support from students, including heartfelt cards and letters. All were especially meaningful and will stay with me.”
He said his focus was now on the future, which he was deeply passionate about.
Magistrate Bourke noted Ramchen was just four when his mother disappeared, and his father died when he was 14.
Slavik “Vic” Ramchen was suspected of having had a hand in his wife’s disappearance, but died in 2002 from pancreatic cancer after the charges against him were withdrawn.
Kim Ramchen was raised by his siblings, who described him as “quirky”, and said the attack on Sykes was “disturbing and shocking”.
Bourke said the former teacher was under significant strain at the time of the attack. He was going through marriage issues, his work contract wasn’t renewed, and he had an opioid addiction.
The IT teacher took a 10-centimetre knife from a staff kitchen at the high school in Melbourne’s south-east on December 2 last year before entering the principal’s office, where Sykes was alone.
The court heard Ramchen attacked, putting the knife up to the principal’s throat.
The pair wrestled to the floor with Sykes yelling, “But, I didn’t do anything.”
Other teachers rushed to the office, where they saw Ramchen kneeling on top of Sykes and trying to stab him with the knife.
Two teachers were able to pull the 37-year-old off Sykes, but the IT teacher escaped and returned to the nearby kitchen, where he grabbed a larger chef’s knife.
The school was placed in lockdown, and emergency services were called, but Sykes, who was covered in blood, was unable to lock his office.
Ramchen returned and attacked Sykes again, with three people, including the school’s deputy principal, restraining him until authorities arrived.
After his arrest, the teacher told police he “mentally snapped” after learning his contract at the school would not be renewed, and he intended to incapacitate the principal.
He had previously worked as a software engineer, a cybersecurity researcher in the US and a tutor in the University of Melbourne’s engineering department before turning to teaching.
A doctor who examined Ramchen said the teacher believed he was “treated unjustly, and came to consider the principal was primarily responsible for this”.
Ramchen, who was sentenced to 15 months’ jail with a non-parole term of eight months and 14 days, will be eligible for parole in just over three months with time served.
The Department of Education said it continued to work closely with the school over the “shocking incident” to ensure it could access all the well-being supports needed.
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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter, and joined The Age in 2022. She previously covered courts at AAP.Connect via X or email.
