Teacher barred over child abuse images

Former English teacher Christopher Shepherd has been banned from teaching for life after being convicted for downloading and possessing indecent images of children, the BBC has reported.

Shepherd was teaching at E-ACT Willenhall Academy in the West Midlands, when he was arrested in January last year, four months after being employed at the school.

He pleaded guilty at Cannock Magistrates' Court last October to two counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children, three counts of possessing indecent images of children and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving an animal.

The school fired Shepherd following the arrest and the case was referred to the Teacher Regulation Agency.

A panel concluded his actions were "fundamentally incompatible" with teaching and he has been barred for life from teaching in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England.

After pleading guilty, Shepherd was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 20 days of rehabilitation activity. He was put on the sex offenders register for 10 years and handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.