SHIRLEY BASSEY - BASSEY BEAT TEACHER AFTER RULER ATTACK

BASSEY BEAT TEACHER AFTER RULER ATTACK

DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY was almost expelled from school - after she punched a teacher who she believed was a racist.
The Big Spender veteran grew up in a predominantly white town in Wales in the 1940s, but insists the fact she was biracial wasn't an issue - until she entered education.
And the diva admits she snapped in the classroom one day when a "prejudiced" tutor beat her with a ruler.
She tells Britain's Guardian newspaper, "I was the only coloured kid in the school and I swear the teacher I had was prejudiced.
"She set about me (attacked) one day with a ruler, up and down my legs and my arms, so I just went pow (punch), because the pain was awful. Just to stop the pain."
And when quizzed if she was thrown out of school, Bassey adds, "No. She (teacher) got expelled, because the headteacher believed me when they saw the marks on me. That's abuse. That's child abuse!"