Matthew Gilkes jailed: Former teacher used ‘spy pens’ to take more than a million upskirt images of pupils
A former high school teacher has been jailed for taking upskirt photos of more than a million students using hidden cameras hidden in pens.
Matthew Gilkes, 47, was caught taking photos of children under rooms at a leisure center in Chorley, Lancashire, in August 2024.
Police tracked his vehicle, leading to his arrest.
A search of his home and workplace uncovered more than 80 devices, including a school-issued laptop, spy pens, handheld cameras and memory cards containing numerous sexually explicit images of children. Most of these images belonged to students at his school.
He was also discovered to have set up fake social media accounts to pose as a teenage boy in order to groom and manipulate girls into sending inappropriate images and videos of themselves.
On Friday, Gilkes, a high school teacher in Greater Manchester, was jailed for 16 years at Preston Crown Court and told he must serve a further five years in return for licence.
At an earlier hearing he had pleaded guilty to various offenses including using equipment under clothing without consent, having sexual intercourse with a child and possessing indecent images of children.
Gilkes, formerly of Harrison Road, Chorley, was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Holly McClave said: “Matthew Gilkes is an extremely dangerous man who displayed persistent, predatory behavior towards young girls whom he took advantage of, groomed and exploited for his own sexual gratification.
“The victims in this case have shown incredible courage in telling what happened to them, and I congratulate them on their bravery. I hope this sentence gives them a sense that justice has been served.”
Crown Prosecution Service senior prosecutor Stacey Gosling said: “He never considered the lasting damage his abuse would have on young victims and when he was caught by police he was revealed to be in possession of a staggering number of indecent photographs showing his depraved crimes knew no bounds.”
