A headteacher who smashed his deputy over the head with a wrench in a shocking school attack fuelled by ‘overwhelming sexual jealousy’ has been jailed.
Anthony John Felton, 54, attacked colleague Richard Pyke, 51, inside an office at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, South Wales, on March 5.
CCTV of the incident was played at Swansea Crown Court, showing Felton manoeuvring Mr Pyke in front of a computer screen before slipping the tool out from inside his jacket pocket.
There were gasps from the public gallery as those watching saw Felton raise his arm and swing the wrench at the back of Mr Pyke’s head.
Ieuan Rees, for the prosecution, said Felton believed Mr Pyke had slept with another teacher with whom he had recently been in a relationship.
‘The evidence of his wife and the admissions he made to her suggested Mr Felton had been in a relationship with another member of staff and had recently discovered he was the father of her child,’ he said.
‘Furthermore, he believed that Mr Pyke had now begun his own relationship with that lady.’
Following the incident, Felton threw the wrench away and left the school in his car.
He then sent an email to all staff apologising ‘for the problems and distress his actions were likely to cause’.
Felton, who according to an annual report from the governing body was appointed headteacher in September 2023, pleaded guilty to attempted grievous bodily harm with intent on April 7.
Judge Paul Thomas KC sentenced him at Swansea Crown Court on Friday to two years and four months in jail.
He was also given a restraining order.
Judge Thomas told him: ‘You know the current prevalence of violence in our schools, incidents of pupils taking weapons into schools, attacks on staff and pupils are all too common features in the media.
‘This very court on Monday will sentence a 14-year-old girl for attempting to kill two teachers and a school girl which happened 25 miles from your school and which I’ve no doubt you’ll be fully aware of.
‘Anyone arming themselves with a weapon with the intention to cause another serious injury is always a grave matter.
‘That a headmaster of a school should take a weapon to harm a deputy is, I expect, entirely without precedent.
‘The appalling example this sets to others needs no emphasis from me. You are more than intelligent enough to realise when you plotted this bizarre attack that the impact would be far reaching.
‘Mr Pyke thought he was your friend. Your victim. He was struck from behind having been lured by you into what was in effect an ambush.’
While John Hipkin KC, speaking for the defence, said Felton had recently suffered due to the death of his mother and a cancer diagnosis, the judge argued his actions were due to jealousy.
He said: ‘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.’
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Following the incident, police said Mr Pyke had been discharged from hospital after suffering minor injuries.
Abul Hussain, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘Anthony Felton struck a defenceless man repeatedly to the head with a metal weapon, demonstrating he had an intent to cause his victim really serious harm.
‘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.’
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