A TEACHER who snapped and attacked a pupil who had been goading him was cleared of attempted murder and causing grievous 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 3kg 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” Harvey.

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

The judge said he would not send the teacher to jail for grievous bodily harm, which he had admitted. Harvey spent eight months on remand awaiting trial before being bailed earlier this month.

Judge Michael Stokes, QC, said: “Common sense has prevailed now we have heard all the evidence.

“These are not easy cases and it’s plainly in the public interest where an event of this nature takes place in a school that the jury representing the public should consider the level of guilt.”

Turning to Harvey, the judge added: “I’m not going to send you to prison for this offence. I’m not even going to impose a suspended sentence. That would be wrong, given that you have already served a sentence longer than can be lawfully suspended.