Teacher took secret upskirt photographs of pupils

A high school ICT teacher who took more than one million upskirt images of pupils using secret cameras hidden in pens has been jailed.

Sexual predator Matthew Gilkes also used fake social media accounts to pose as a teenager to groom and manipulate girls into sending him indecent images and videos of themselves.

The 47-year-old's prolific offending was unmasked in August 2024 after he was caught taking pictures of children at a leisure centre in Chorley, said Lancashire Police.

Gilkes, of Chorley, admitted 42 charges at Preston Crown Court including upskirting and child sex offences. He was jailed for 16 years.

A trace of Gilkes's vehicle leaving the leisure centre's car park led to his identification and arrest, police said.

A search of his home and workplace uncovered more than 80 devices including mobiles, computers and laptops - one of which issued by a school - as well as spy pens, handheld cameras and memory cards containing more than 5,000 indecent images of children.

Many of the images Gilkes had taken were of pupils at the school where he worked as an ICT teacher.

He took them using cameras disguised as pens and tiny cube cameras.

Gilkes also posed online as a teenage boy "talking to a large number of underage girls, grooming them and pressurising them to send images to him", police said.

Gilkes, who taught at a high school in Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty in November to 42 charges including upskirting, engaging in sexual communication with a child, indecent images and inciting an underage girl to engage in sexual activity.

Det Con Holly McClave said: "Matthew Gilkes is a highly dangerous man who has shown persistent predatory behaviour towards young girls who he has taken advantage of, groomed and exploited for his own sexual gratification.

"The victims in this case have shown incredible bravery in speaking about what happened to them and I commend them for their courage.

"I hope this sentence gives them some sense that justice has been done."

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