One of the less well-publicised factors of his case is that his victim was deliberately provoking him while a classmate filmed the incident on a camera phone.

He cracked, as any normal human being would under that kind of pressure, and unfortunately attacked the boy with a weight. Now he has lost his job, his pension and any hope of benefits. I feel deeply for the boy, who was immature, misguided and is now disabled. But that does not excuse the treatment Harvey has received.

In any other aspect of English law provocation is taken into account. For a teacher, however, even when that provocation has been endured for 25 hours per week for 20 years, no amount of provocation is accepted even in mitigation after a plea.

Want my advice? Don’t teach. Tell your friends and their relatives not to teach. If you’re already a teacher, get out of the job. Because whatever happens, you will be blamed – unless the results are good, in which case someone else will steal the credit.