A headteacher who attacked his deputy with a wrench at a school in South Wales has been jailed for two years and four months. Anthony John Felton, 54, armed himself with the tool and struck Richard Pyke from behind at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Comprehensive School in Aberavon.
The court heard that Felton believed Mr Pyke had begun a relationship with a female teacher with whom Felton had recently been in an affair. Prosecution barrister Ieuan Rees stated that Felton had discovered he was the father of that teacher's child and was consumed by 'overwhelming sexual jealousy'.
CCTV footage shown in court captured Felton landing a blow to the back of Mr Pyke's head, causing gasps from the public gallery. Colleagues intervened after hearing the disturbance. Mr Pyke suffered minor injuries and was discharged from hospital.
Judge Paul Thomas KC described the attack as 'entirely without precedent' for a headteacher targeting a deputy, calling it an 'ambush' by a man Mr Pyke considered a friend. The judge rejected defence arguments that Felton's actions were influenced by his mother's death and a cancer diagnosis, stating the trigger was 'uncontrollable rage' from jealousy over an adulterous affair.
Felton was also issued a restraining order. Abul Hussain of the Crown Prosecution Service said the attack demonstrated 'an intent to cause really serious harm' and condemned the 'shocking' level of unprovoked violence from a professional in the workplace.
