A school principal who was imprisoned for assaulting his deputy with a wrench in the midst of a romantic entanglement has publicly addressed his downfall for the first time.
Dr. Anthony John Felton, 54, attacked Richard Pyke, 51, multiple times on the head upon discovering their shared involvement with a female teacher. Felton had a child with the woman without his wife’s knowledge and reacted angrily upon learning of Pyke’s affair.
The incident occurred at St Joseph’s Catholic School and Sixth Form Centre in Port Talbot, South Wales, leaving Pyke with a head laceration requiring hospital treatment. Felton was sentenced to two years and four months for attempted grievous bodily harm but served only five months before release in the summer of the following year.
In a recent statement, Felton expressed deep regret and shame over the incident, acknowledging the appropriateness of his prison sentence. The court learned that the two educators, once esteemed at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic, had considered each other friends until Felton discovered Pyke’s secret relationship with the woman teacher after a school trip to Auschwitz.
Felton now deeply regrets his violent reaction, describing his incarceration at 54 years old as a terrifying experience, marked by fears of assault and suicide. Despite his desire to apologize to Pyke, a restraining order prevents any contact between them.
Prior to the incident on March 5, 2025, Felton had recently assumed the headship of the 900-student school in 2023 after 17 years as head of the mathematics department.
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