A headmaster who launched an astonishing attack on his own deputy head with a spanner when he discovered he had been sleeping with his secret mistress has spoken publicly about his downfall for the first time.
Dr Anthony John Felton, 54, was jailed for two years and four months for the brutal assault on love rival colleague Richard Pyke which was prompted by his jealous rage on discovering they were both having an affair with the same woman teacher.
Felton had had a baby with the woman without the knowledge of his wife Maria – who also taught at the school, as Religious and Sex education co-ordinator – before discovering she was seeing his deputy too.
Shortly before launching his surprise attack with a heavy-duty tool, which was captured in dramatic CCTV footage, Felton had sent an all-round email to staff at his Catholic high school in Wales apologising for what he was about to do.
He also smeared his teacher lover – who has never been named – for having ‘slept her way to the top’ in the vengeful email before attacking her other lover Mr Pyke.
Now Felton has finally spoken about his extraordinary attack – which cost him both his career, his marriage, his relationship with his mistress and their child, and his freedom.
He said: ‘Earlier this year I was sentenced to prison, and I admit I was deeply ashamed of the offence that brought me to HMP Swansea.
‘I had been convicted of a Section 18 assault [the most serious form of grievous bodily harm] on a male colleague at work.
‘I regretted my actions immediately and to this day I often dream about apologising to the victim.’
Felton, who has now been released from HMP Swansea after serving just six months of his sentence in addition to time in custody on remand, was writing in Inside Time, a newspaper for current and former prisoners.
He continued: ‘My case gained national coverage because I had been a headteacher in a South Wales comprehensive school.
‘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.’
Married father-of-four Felton said he was so anxious about prison that he spent his time on remand ‘endlessly’ calculating how long his custodial sentence might be.
He 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.
While inside he asked a prison mental health nurse for support in dealing with his ‘hidden private life’, he said.
Felton admitted attempted grievous bodily harm and the video shown to the court and later made public by the Crown Prosecution Service shows him swinging the spanner like a baseball bat.
Mr Pyke, 51, who had his back to his assailant, suffered a glancing blow to the top of the head but needed hospital treatment.
Both teachers had previously been highly thought of at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Comprehensive School in Aberavon, South Wales, and regarded each other as friends.
But 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.
Fuelled by what was later described as ‘overwhelming sexual jealousy’, Felton sent a farewell email to his staff on the morning of March 5 last year.
It said: ‘Dear staff, the greatest mistake I made was appointing XXXXXX XXXXXX in various roles.
‘She has slept her way to the top, currently engaging in sexual activity without at least 2 current members of the SLT (School Leadership Team) including Richard Pyke.
‘I’m sorry for the distress the rest of the day will bring. I am sorry.
‘You are good people and do an amazing job for our community.
‘Goodbye, John.’
Moments later the headteacher swung the spanner aiming for his love-rival’s head and landing a series of blows.
Dr Felton had only been promoted to head teacher of the 900-pupil school in 2023 after serving as head of the mathematics department for the previous 17 years.
Sentencing him at Swansea Crown Court Judge Paul Thomas KC said a head teacher attacking his deputy in school was ‘entirely without precedent’.
The judge told the ashamed headteacher: ‘The trigger for your actions was overwhelming sexual jealousy arising from an adulterous affair and the uncontrolled rage it created in you.
‘He (Mr Pyke) was viciously struck from behind having been lured by you into what was effectively an ambush.
‘Your marriage, career and reputation have been irretrievably lost and that will weigh heavily on you well after the end of your sentence.’
Felton, of Gorseinon, Swansea, was released early under the Home Office Detention Curfew Scheme and electronically tagged.
But his desire to apologise to his victim Mr Pyke will remain unfulfilled – he was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting his former deputy.
Felton claims he has made a fresh start and is now employed by a charity that works with prisoners across the UK.
In his first-person article for the prisoners’ newspaper he said: ‘For many people prison can feel like the end of the road, for me it became the start of a very different journey.
‘Because of the publicity surrounding my crime, almost everyone knew who I was. Many came to speak to me, and some even praised me. I always replied: “It was wrong, and I am ashamed for doing it.”
‘I often heard stories of men who had nothing to return to. I count myself fortunate: I had a home waiting for me, and family and friends willing to stand by me.
‘After six months inside, I was released on tag in August. It was an emotional exit, and I knew I would miss some aspects of prison life – especially the genuine friendships I had formed and the acts of kindness shown to me.
‘Adjusting has not been easy. Everyday sights, colours, and smells still feel overwhelming, and it will take time. But I know I am moving forward, and I am determined to give back – to my family, to my friends, and to society.’
Felton is currently suspended from teaching and his £90,000-a-year job at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Comprehensive School is currently being advertised.
Mr Pyke continues to teach at the school along with the woman at the centre of the love triangle and Dr Felton’s wife Maria.
