Dr Anthony John Felton, who discovered he and Richard Pyke were sleeping with the same colleague, was sentenced to two years and four months in jail for attempted grievous bodily harm with intent
A headteacher who was jailed for attacking his deputy with a spanner amid a love triangle row has spoken publicly about his downfall for the first time.
Dr Anthony John Felton, 54, struck Richard Pyke, 51, multiple times to the head after discovering they were both having an affair with the same woman teacher. A court heard Felton had had a baby with the woman without the knowledge of his wife Maria — who also taught at the school — and became angry to learn of Mr Pyke’s fling.
The attack, which happened at St Joseph’s Catholic School and Sixth Form Centre in Port Talbot, south Wales, left Mr Pyke with a cut to the head which required treatment at hospital. His boss was subsequently sentenced to two years and four months in jail for attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, but served just five months and was released in the summer of last year.
Speaking this week about the conviction for the first time, Felton said he was “deeply ashamed”. The married father of four conceded “it was right” he received a custodial sentence for the attack, which happened as his love rival was merely sat at his desk in an office at the school.
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Both teachers had previously been highly thought of at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic and regarded each other as friends, the court had heard. However, Felton, who had fathered a child with the young woman teacher during the adulterous affair, discovered she was secretly seeing Mr Pyke following a school trip they went on to Auschwitz.
The headteacher reacted violently, actions he says he now deeply regrets. Writing for Inside Time, a newspaper for current and former prisoners, Felton said: “At 54 years old, I suddenly found myself facing time inside. It was right that I received a custodial sentence, but that didn’t diminish the sheer terror and anxiety I felt.”
The dad, who is from Gorseinon, south Wales, explained that he had feared he would be beaten up or even raped in prison, and consequently spent the first nine days inside on suicide watch.
But he was released early under the Home Office Detention Curfew Scheme and electronically tagged. Although he has expressed a desire to apologise to the victim, this wish will remain unfulfilled because he was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting his former deputy.
Swansea Crown Court was told the shamed educator had only been promoted to headteacher of the 900-pupil school in 2023 after serving as head of the mathematics department for the previous 17 years. Felton hit Mr Pyke on March 5, 2025, during only his second academic year as headteacher.
