Teacher Jailed For Secretly Filming Pupils

Former teacher Jonathan Thomson-Glover has been jailed for three years and nine months after admitting 36 counts of using hidden cameras to make indecent images of pupils.

The 53-year-old, who taught German at independent Clifton College in Bristol, has admitted making, taking and possessing the images while there and at another address in Cornwall over a 16-year period.

There were 27 charges of taking indecent images of a child, seven of making indecent images of a child and two of possessing the images.

The judge described the offences as "a gross breach of trust" but said he accepted Thomson-Glover's remorse, adding that he was essentially a good man, brought low by the demons that possess him.

He added: "You are the author of your own misfortune and it is hard to have sympathy for you. Prison will be difficult for you."

Taunton Crown Court was told that Thomson-Glover was caught after a tip-off from the National Crime Agency last summer about an IP address used to download indecent child images, which saw police raid a number of addresses.

After he was arrested, Thomson-Glover had told police he set up cameras in 10 locations at the school, doing this during school holidays when it was quiet.

He had also used a camera hidden in a bag with a hole cut in it, which he would carry around the school shower room.

When asked by police what his interests were and what he'd been looking for, Thomson-Glover had replied "teen boys basically", telling police his actions were a "compulsion fuelled by the internet".

Police found:

:: More than 300 VHS tapes

:: 2,500 hours of footage

:: Images of at least 130 pupils.

But the prosecutor has told the court that Thomson-Glover was regarded by parents and pupils at the school as the "consummate professional".

Thomson-Glover's lawyer had told the court his client has "a deep and considered remorse for his actions", that he wanted to apologise publicly for "a litany of wrongs" but that he doesn't expect forgiveness from his victims.

He told the judge that his client was seeking a prison sentence to show his victims that justice has been done.

After the case, Detective Inspector Andrea Kingdon said: "It’s clear he has been prolific in his criminal activity and has demonstrated a meticulous approach in his planning and cataloguing processes."

She added that police had worked closely with the school and had taken "great care" in working with victims.

CPS Senior Crown Prosecutor Howard Phillips thanked the victims for their cooperation and described Thomson-Glover as "an educated and intelligent man who exploited and manipulated his position for his own sexual gratification."

A spokesman for Clifton College said Thomson-Glover's arrest and the nature of the allegations had been "profoundly disturbing", adding that they had taken "considerable steps to ensure, so far as it is possible to do so, that nothing like this can ever happen again".

Reviews have been carried out at the school, including physical searches of buildings which found no more hidden cameras.

"We are committed to ensuring the safety of our pupils. These revelations have shocked us all and we are determined that if there are any further lessons to be learned, we will learn them."