A COUPLE "took matters into their own hands" after their son experienced sustained bullying at a Glasgow school.

The parents chased, grabbed hold of and shouted and swore a then 15-year-old schoolboy who had been targeting their son while the dad also threatened the teen.

But a sheriff said the public would have sympathy for the pair, who had watched their child become "increasingly isolated".

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard of the events of June 10, 2019, at a South Side secondary.

Depute fiscal Ramsay Cunningham told the court the couple attended at the school to speak to the headteacher.

Their defence lawyers said they had contacted the school previously and had spoken to the police about the situation.

A solicitor for the dad, who is 34, said the 15-year-old complainer in the case had once brought a knife in to school.

She said: "He attended at the school with his partner but had no intention to make those comments and confront the complainer.

"It was not intended by him to act in the way he did but things got out of hand.

"He is embarrassed for his conduct and it is out of character.

"His son has missed school for about a year. His mental health has deteriorated and the school cannot guarantee his safety.

"He was fearful for his son and took matters into his own hands."

A defence brief for the second accused, the 33-year-old mum, said the bullied teenager had to be removed from classes and had missed a year of school.

The lawyer said: "She watched her son become increasingly isolated and become a young man who refused to go out and socialise.

"As a mother, she was deeply concerned about what she was witnessing happening to her son.

"When he went back to school this incident happened.

"On the day of the incident there had been a build up of stress over months.

"When the head teacher came out she simply couldn't take it any more.

"The complainer had left school by that point but the school couldn't guarantee his safety so he lost the last year of school.

"She works as a cleaner in a nursery and this matter will have an impact on whether her job remains."

Sheriff Jonathan Guy said to the mum: "I think the public would have a considerable amount of sympathy for the situation you found yourself in.

"While the court can never condone your actions on the day in question, your actions were very much borne out by what was happening to your son."

The sheriff granted her an absolute discharge.

To the dad, he said: "Your actions went further than [your partner] and I was stunned in particular by the particularly sinister threat you uttered to a 15-year-old boy.

"While we can understand why you snapped, your actions require a different sentence."

The dad, from Knightswood, was placed on a community payback order and told to complete 50 hours of unpaid work.