Teacher who took upskirting photos of pupils and had indecent images of children on school laptop banned from teaching

Richard Lees, a former teacher at a school in Macclesfield, was jailed for two years last year.

The 43-year-old, of Heald Green, Cheadle, was convicted of voyeurism, recording images beneath clothing of another, making indecent photographs of children, possession of indecent photographs of a child and possessing an extremepornographic image.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Chesire Police seized a number of devices from Lee's address, which included a school issued laptop even though he'd left the school the year before.

A number of indecent images of children were discovered on the laptop, including images of category A, B and C, plus extreme pornography.

Lees was arrested in relation to this but denied possession of the images, claiming someone else must have gained access to the device.

Further enquiries were carried out and more material was discovered on an encrypted hard drive.

This included voyeurism offences where he had secretly filmed women in the bathroom of his previous address in Macclesfield without their knowledge.

Further upskirting images believed to be of female pupils were also discovered. The force said data suggested these images were taken on school grounds when Lees was still in employment there as a rugby coach.

He was arrested for these offences in September 2024 and charged the following month.

A Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel has now ruled that Lees is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation orchildren’s home in England.

Decision maker David Oatley said the "lack of insight and remorse" means there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils.

He added: "I have also placed considerable weight on the finding of the panel concerning the serious breach of trust involved in a teacher filming up the skirts of young girls in his school, and the lack of insight and remorse shown by the teacher for his behaviour."

'Twisted secret'

Following sentencing, Detective Constable Alison Shields said: “Firstly, we would like to commend the victims of the voyeurism for their courage throughout this investigation and subsequent court process.

“Lees held a position of trust and should have been someone children could go to for support. Instead, he was hiding a twisted secret.

"He even had the audacity to store some of the indecent images of children on a school-issued laptop.

“Thankfully, Lees' shocking crimes were uncovered and our officers worked hard to gather a catalogue of evidence against him and bring him before the courts.

“I hope this will also encourage anyone who may have been a victim of any similar offences to come forward and report it to us.”