A headteacher who was caught on video attacking his deputy with a large adjustable spanner, in an assault motivated by “overwhelming sexual jealousy,” has been jailed for more than two years.
Anthony John Felton, 54, concealed the wrench in his jacket pocket as he approached his colleague, Richard Pyke, 51, from behind. Video of the incident showed him taking out the heavy tool and then repeatedly swinging it at Pyke’s head.
Pyke fell to the floor and attempted to kick away Felton before colleagues at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic comprehensive school in Aberavon, south Wales, heard the disturbance and came to his aid.
Ieuan Rees, for the prosecution, said Felton believed Pyke had slept with another teacher with whom he had recently been in a relationship. After the attack, Felton fled the school in his car and then emailed staff to apologise.
In a victim impact statement, Pyke said: “You had my complete trust in every way and you used that to manoeuvre me into a position of utter vulnerability. And then you attacked me from behind.”
On Friday, Judge Paul Thomas sentenced Felton to two years and four months in jail and issued an indefinite restraining order, calling the ambush “entirely without precedent.”
