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A former Port Elizabeth school principal who pleaded guilty to stealing R1.1m from Greenwood Primary School has escaped a jail sentence.
Magistrate Stanley Gumede sentenced Patrick Shelver on Friday to 10 years in jail but wholly suspended the sentence for five years.
Shelver, who teaches in Thailand, also has to repay R600 000 to the school in monthly installments of R10 000 a month.
The balance of the stolen money will be made up from assets seized by the state.
Shelver earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud but altered his plea this week to one of guilty of theft.
His co-accused, attorney Mike Randell, will be tried in a separate case provisionally set down for the 16th of April.
