Head sacked over f lirty texts to girls starts online school
Toby Belfield, 47, was fired from his £160,000-a-year post at private Ruthin School, North Wales, in February after sending inappropriate texts to girls as young as 15.
But yesterday it emerged that the married teacher is now recruiting overseas pupils for his latest project – Cambridge School Online – which offers a ‘British education to students around the world, enabling them to enter top UK universities’. Last night one of the pupils who Mr Belfield bombarded with messages said she was furious he had been allowed to set up the new venture.
Cat Hughes, 16, said: ‘It is so wrong. How can he be sacked but then simply set this school up straight away? It is shocking.’
Her mother Susan, an NHS speech therapist, added: ‘It beggars belief. It demonstrates the arrogance of the man and the fact that there is no mechanism in place to keep children in private schools safe.’
Over several months Mr Belfield sent Miss Hughes and other girls WhatsApp and Instagram messages, describing them as ‘cute’ and ‘naughty’. He even discussed a pupil’s virginity and commented on the size of Countdown star Rachel Riley’s breasts.
Many messages were sent from hotels in Russia and Asia, where he recruited foreign youngsters for the boarding school, which costs up to £37,500 a year. Because Mr Belfield works in the private sector and is not a qualified teacher, he is not registered with the Welsh Education Workforce Council. Tory Welsh Assembly Member Darren Millar, whose constituency covers Ruthin School, said an ‘urgent overhaul’ of private school regulations was needed.
‘I’m gobsmacked that we still do not have the laws or regulations to stop him working in education,’ he said.
The Cambridge School Online website says applicants must sit an exam and be interviewed by Mr Belfield.
A spokesman for universities admissions service Ucas said it had suspended the school from accessing its services. Last night Mr Belfield said he did not ‘agree with a lot that has been written about me’, but admitted some of the messages he sent were inappropriate.