The incident occurred after a class trip last week, local newspaper Lofotposten reports. When the budding teacher wrote about the skating excursion in a status update on Facebook, the pupil responded with what the newspaper described as a joking comment.

But the teacher didn’t appreciate the joke, and in the ensuing discussion vowed to exact revenge on the pupil, writing: “[I’ll] crush your face so you drown in your own blood”

A few days later, the assistant teacher was called to a meeting with the school principal and the pupil’s parents. The get-together culminated in the sacking with immediate effect of the offending teacher, who was employed on a temporary contract.

By then, the Facebook threat was already a major topic of conversation in the local area. The county governor had even been in touch with the school management to inform them that such threatening comments constituted grounds for dismissal and the instigation of criminal charges, the newspaper reports.

The school has not, however, reported the matter to the police, the paper said.

“This is not something I can, or want to, comment on,” the school’s principal said.