Love triangle head jailed for wrench attack on deputy

A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.

Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.

Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.

Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".

The court heard Felton was distressed after finding out he was the father of a fellow teacher's child and had recently discovered Mr Pyke was in a relationship with the same teacher.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Pyke told the court Felton, whom he trusted completely, brought a metal wrench into his office and rained a "number of blows" on him.

Mr Pyke fell to the ground and attempted to kick away Felton before being helped by colleagues who heard the disturbance.

Following the attack - which was caught on CCTV - Felton threw the wrench away and drove off before sending an email to all staff apologising "for the problems and distress his actions were likely to cause".

Mr Pyke said Felton had "manipulated me into a position of complete vulnerability".

"I thought we were trusted colleagues who had, over many years, built up a relationship of trust and understanding," he added.

"It terrifies me still. I feel I have lost so much of me... I'm not sure I will ever come to terms with that."

Giving his remarks to Felton, Judge Thomas cited the upcoming sentencing of a 14-year-old girl who attempted to kill two teachers and a pupil at a school in Ammanford, less than 25 miles (40km) away from Felton's school.

"You knew as well as anyone could have known the current prevalence of violence in our schools.

"Instances of pupils taking weapons into school and attacks on staff and fellow pupils are [an] all too common feature in the media.

"The appalling example this episode sets to others needs no emphasis from me."

He told Felton he was "more than intelligent enough" to realise the ramifications of his plot would be "far reaching".

He added: "He had been lured by you into what was, in effect, an ambush.

"Sexual jealousy arising from an adulterous affair and the uncontrollable rage from you had led to his ultimate downfall."

John Hipkin KC, defending, said Felton had recently suffered due to the death of his mother and a cancer diagnosis.

But the judge told him: "Ultimately, the trigger for your act of extreme violence was of your own doing, the overwhelming sexual jealousy arising from an adulterous affair and the uncontrollable rage it created in you."

Abul Hussain of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The level of unprovoked violence, from a professional in the workplace, was shocking.

"Too often we see attacks of this nature result in life-changing injuries or fatal consequences, and thankfully, that was not the result in this case."

Felton was told his sentence would have been three-and-a-half years without an early guilty plea and he would serve half of his sentence on licence.

He was also given a restraining order in relation to Mr Pyke, his wife and children, for an indefinite period.