When a primary school headmaster returns to work at the end of the summer holidays he will be wearing an electronic tag after his release from prison for a serious driving offence.
Paul Davies, 51, left another motorist crippled for life when he crashed his high-powered Subaru sports car while driving like “a lunatic”. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison and is due to be released next month.
Despite his conviction, governors at Cwmdare primary school, near Aberdare, South Wales, agreed to allow him to keep his £42,000-a-year job.
Mr Davies is expected to return to the school for the start of the new school year in September. He will be required to wear an electronic tagging device on his leg as part of the terms of his early release.
The news that Mr Davies will be allowed to continue working at the school has appalled his victim, Kelvin Palmer, who will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair with spinal injuries.
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Mr Palmer, a 49-year-old businessman, described the decision as “ludicrous”. He said: “It’s alarming. A headmaster with a tag must be a first. This chap has been found guilty in the court, he’s been sentenced to jail, and he’s now going to be in front of kids. He could be taking assembly with a tag around his ankle. I don’t think many parents think this is an good example to set.”
He has called on the General Teaching Council to hold its own disciplinary hearing.
Davies was driving the Subaru, which was plastered with rally stickers, at speeds of up to 120mph in wet and windy conditions on the A465 in South Wales when he hit Mr Davies’s Ford Fiesta.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court was told that the accident had wrecked the life of Mr Palmer and his family. The father of two spent ten months in hospital and is now in a care home away from his family.
Davies denied dangerous driving but was found guilty. Sentencing him at Newport Crown Court, Judge Stephen Hopkins described the head teacher as a “boy racer” whose driving had been “lunatic”.
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Although the hearing was told that Davies would lose his post as head teacher, governors at the school have now decided to keep it open for him until he comes out of prison.
A statement read: “The panel decided to allow Mr Davies to keep his post and he is expected to return after completing his sentence in relation to the recent court judgment.”
The statement said that all parents and carers of pupils at the school had received a letter from the chairman of governors explaining the decision.
The National Association of Head Teachers, which backed Davies, said that he could apply for early release on licence if he agreed to be tagged. It said that Davies was held in high esteem by parents and was extremely sorry for what had happened and would have to live with it for the rest of his life.