Let off, the head who sent f lirty messages to his ‘naughty’ girls
A HEADMASTER at a top boarding school sent flirty and inappropriate texts to female pupils.
Toby Belfield, 47, had threatened to expel students for romantic relationships at £37,500-a-year ruthin School, in North Wales
But yesterday it emerged he had sent hundreds of WhatsApp messages to teenagers in his charge, asking them about their sex lives and calling them ‘naughty’.
One parent criticised the school’s management team for refusing to sack the £160,000-a-year head.
The messages, which came to light in May, prompted a safeguarding investigation involving police and social services. Mr Belfield was suspended but not arrested and officers told parents his conduct did not pass the criminal threshold.
Mr Belfield, who is not a qualified teacher, was allowed back to work in September. However, sources say he has not been seen at the school since November, when government inspectors visited unannounced.
The Care Inspectorate of Wales published a report this week that concluded children at the school, which is ranked as the fifth-best co-educational boarding school in the UK, were at risk of harm. It said ruthin was under ‘autocratic and controlling management’.
In the WhatsApp messages
Mr Belfield, who is married and has a stepdaughter, described one girl as ‘cute’ and scolds another pupil for having a pregnancy test kit.
When she claimed it was a joke, Mr Belfield replied: ‘I believe it was needed for you – I thought you were the naughty girl!!!!! Always the naughty one.’
He told one pupil she looked ‘stunning’ in a red dress at a dance and another that she was a ‘potential sexual threat to young boys’.
In another message, complete with broken heart emojis, he said: ‘You are cruel to me. Where is your love for your principal – it has vanished. So rude and cruel to me. Breaking my heart.’
The mother of one of the pupils, who was 15 when the messages began, said she had contacted officials to ask why Mr Belfield had not been sacked.
‘Social services explained that because he worked in an independent school the governors had to make that call and their hands were tied,’ she said.
‘It is a terrible loophole in legislation. It’s wrong. Because my daughter was at a private school she had no protection or rights.
‘The nature of the messages definitely changed when she turned 16. He is a clever bloke, he’s not stupid and the police told me they didn’t pass the criminal threshold.’
A source said the school’s council of management was backing Mr Belfield because he had presided over a massive increase in funding by bringing in lots of foreign students.
The school and Mr Belfield declined to comment when approached by the Mail.
A spokesman for the Welsh government said: ‘We’re aware of the serious findings of the report on ruthin School and we’re working with inspectors to consider an action plan with its council of management.’