Teacher cleared of attempting to murder pupil

A teacher who snapped and attacked a pupil who had been goading him has been cleared of attempted murder and causing grevious bodily harm with intent.

The jury at Nottingham Crown Court took less than two hours to clear father-of-two Peter Harvey, 50, who had admitted causing grievous bodily harm without intent.

Harvey attacked the 14-year-old boy with a three kilogram weight during a lesson at All Saints' Roman Catholic School in Mansfield last July.

The court heard that he shouted "die, die, die" as he bludgeoned the boy with the weight after the pupil told him to "f*** off".

It emerged during the four-day trial that pupils at the school were trying to wind up Harvey so his reaction could be caught on a camcorder being used secretly by a girl in the class.

The footage was then to be passed around the school as a way of "humiliating" the teacher.

Harvey's lawyer argued that he was in such a state when he battered the boy, a known trouble-maker, that he could not have possibly intended to kill or seriously harm him.