Teacher jailed over child porn

A teacher was jailed for three years for possessing more than 5,000 indecent images and video clips of children.

David Harrington, who worked as a graphic design teacher at Cannock Chase High School, was found to have 5,231 images and video clips of children, some as young as six, on his computer, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Harrington, 47, of Walsall, said he preferred pictures of children 11-15 – the same ages he taught – but he separated "fantasy from reality" at work. He stopped working at the school eight months ago and is now banned from work with children for 20 years.

None of the images were connected with the school.

Mr Mark Phillips, prosecuting, said 4,683 images were found on two computer hard drives seized by police at his home in Sandwell Street, Caldmore, last year.

Harrington, a teacher for 20 years but now designing kitchens, admitted 22 counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo photographs and two counts of possessing pictures of a child or children.

Mr Phillips said: "He said he had been married but that that marriage had broken down. He had been using alcohol and his life had deteriorated."

Mr David Mason, defending, said: "He did not share these images or make them available to anyone else. There were never any problems at school and he never put fantasy into reality."

Harrington was given two nine-month sentences, a two-year sentence and two three-year sentences based on different levels of depravity images represented. Sentences run concurrently to make a total of three years.

The computers were ordered to be destroyed. He was banned from working with children for 20 years and put on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely. He is banned from using the internet for anything other than business.

Staffordshire County Council's Richard Caddy said the school liaised closely with police throughout and had been assured none of the images related to anybody at the school.