A former Liverpool headteacher who stole more than £15,000 from two primary schools was jailed for 15 months after admitting he had abused his position for years. Neil Metcalf, 51, used his role at St Anthony of Padua Catholic Primary School and later Our Lady’s Bishop Eton Catholic Primary School to siphon money into his personal account.

Metcalf pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by abuse of position at Liverpool Crown Court. The fraud came to light after a finance officer at Our Lady’s Bishop Eton spotted an unusual invoice made out to School Fit and J. Neil, and Metcalf told her the payment was for health and safety.

Between September 2017 and May 2022, he made six fraudulent payments of £1,800 each from St Anthony of Padua, totalling £10,800. After moving to Our Lady’s Bishop Eton in 2022, he made three more payments of £2,160, £250 and £2,280 between September 2022 and September 2023, adding another £4,690. His total stolen from the two schools was £15,490.

The case exposed how Metcalf masked the fraud. He sent money in cheques to his stepson with instructions to move the cash into his own bank account after the cheques cleared, and the Teacher Regulation Agency said he had built up a £100,000 credit card debt before the offences. He was suspended from Our Lady’s Bishop Eton in November 2023 after an internal investigation into financial discrepancies was reported to police, then resigned in June 2024 and was referred to the regulator a month later.

The panel that heard the case said the offending amounted to a sophisticated fraud planned by Metcalf to avoid detection, carried out at two schools over a significant period of time. It said he had many chances to make better choices and found no evidence that he was acting under extreme duress, though it noted references about his record as a teacher.

In a written statement to officials, Metcalf said he was deeply ashamed of what he had done and that keeping silent about his debt had pushed him into decisions he regretted. He said unwise loans had driven him to commit fraud in an attempt to keep his head above water and out of fear of losing his house. He also said the shame and hurt caused by his conviction had been broadcast over the local press, and added that further punishment would not be necessary because he knew he would never be a headteacher again.

The Teacher Regulation Agency hearing barred him from teaching for at least six years. The ruling closes a case that began with routine financial checks and ended with a former school leader branded for abusing trust in the very institutions he was meant to protect.