Headteacher sacked after sending flirty messages to schoolgirls has Shropshire links

Toby Belfield was sacked from his job at Ruthin School today, following allegations that he had sent dozens of flirty texts to students as young as 15.

The 47-year-old started his teaching career at Concord College, in Acton Burnell, near Shrewsbury in the mid 1990s after graduating from Cambridge University.

He then moved to Liverpool College as assistant director of studies and then to Ruthin as Head of Sixth Form.

In 2004, he left Ruthin School to join a software company.

He returned to Ruthin School in 2008, initially as Bursar, before becoming vice-principal and then principal.

The boarding school announced today it was “terminating his employment with immediate effect”.

Last week the Welsh Government hinted it could effectively shut down the school unless appropriate action was taken after a damning Care Inspectorate Wales report concluded that children were at risk of harm.

The inspection was prompted by a series of inappropriate messages sent to a teenager from Mr Belfield on Instagram in which he told her she was cute, that she looked good in her blazer, He also made sexual comments spoke about breasts, virginity and sexuality. The 16-year-old has said the ordeal gave her nightmares and ruined her life.

Mr Belfield sent messages to three different youngsters on social media sites and Whatsapp between 2017 and May last year.

In them, he boasted about his seniority and said “flirting is fine,” sent love hearts and emojis and commented on the size of TV star Rachel Riley’s breasts.

He said he liked women “small and petite” and asked one student if she had an eating disorder because she was a “thin girl” before going on to tell her she looked good.

In one message to the teenager, he said: “I have complete authority. I can do whatever I like. I can go to any country I feel like. I’m creating a new school piece by piece. By the time I retire I will have created something forever - and I will be remembered for many years!!!”

Ruthin School’s Council of Management said in a statement: “This has been, and remains, a highly sensitive and challenging situation. A number of external investigations have been conducted over some months, and the school’s Council of Management has worked with relevant agencies throughout and continues to do so.

“When working with the relevant statutory and regulatory authorities, the best thing we can do is work closely with them until a resolution and way forward has been agreed.

“As we have previously stated, while external investigations have been ongoing, the Principal has not been carrying out his role at the school. The school’s Council of Management received a verbal interim report on Friday from the external person we appointed to independently review Mr Belfield’s conduct, and on the basis of that report has decided to terminate Mr Belfield’s employment with immediate effect.

"The Vice Principal of the school, Mr Ian Welsby, has been appointed as Acting Principal until such time as a permanent appointee has been selected following a competitive process.

“The school’s Council of Management will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the recommendations from both the CIW and Estyn reports are implemented as part of our comprehensive and thorough strategic review of the safeguarding governance and safeguarding arrangements at the school.

"We are determined to ensure that the children at Ruthin School, now and in the future, will be all the better cared for and safer as a result of the work which is being carried out between the school’s Council of Management and the local Welsh education authorities.”