A former teacher has been jailed for possessing indecent images of children.

Richard Lees, who previously taught at a school in Macclesfield, was sentenced to two years at Chester Crown Court on Friday, February 7.

The 43-year-old, of Heald Green in Cheadle, had previously pleaded guilty to five offences of voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children, and possession of extreme pornography.

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."

Richard Lees (Credit: Cheshire Police)

Lees was first arrested in July 2022 for an unrelated offence which resulted in no further action against him.

However, as part of this initial investigation, officers seized a number of devices from his home address.

This included his personal hard drive and a school-issued laptop, which he still had in his possession despite him leaving the school the year before.

During an investigation, a number of indecent images of children were discovered on the laptop and hard drive, including images of category A, B and C, plus extreme pornography.

Lees was arrested in relation to these offences and denied possession of the images, stating someone else must have gained access to the device.

However, following enquiries, he was charged in September 2023.

As further enquiries were carried out before the case appeared in court, more material was discovered on the 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 relate to female pupils were also discovered. 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.