A former teacher received a prison sentence following the discovery of disturbing images, including upskirting photos of students.
Richard Lees, age 43, used to teach in Cheshire. Police arrested him in July 2022 while looking into something different. Cops took his laptop and hard drive.
He no longer worked at the school but still had the school laptop. They found bad images on that laptop, and some images were considered extreme.
He said he was innocent after his arrest, claiming someone else accessed the files. He faced charges in September 2023, and police then found more material on his encrypted hard drive. He secretly filmed women at home.
Police discovered more upskirting pictures. These pictures seemed to show female students, and police believe he took these at school. He coached rugby at that time.
Lees comes from Stockport. He admitted to voyeurism and image crimes, and judges sentenced him to two years.
A detective, Alison Shields, made a statement later, praising the bravery of the victims in the case. She stated that Lees betrayed the trust placed in teachers and kept awful kid images on his school laptop.
She expressed relief that Lees faced justice and hopes others will report similar crimes.