A teacher who took upskirting photos of female pupils has been jailed for two years after storing indecent images of children – and extreme pornography – on a school-issued laptop. Former school rugby coach Richard Lees, 43, taught at a school in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and was first arrested in July 2022 for an unrelated offence for which police took no further action. Cops seized devices from him including a personal encrypted hard drive and his school-issued laptop as part of the investigation and found the most serious ‘category A’ images of children on the devices, as well as extreme pornography. The teacher denied possession, saying someone else must have gained access to the device. Cops arrested him and charged him with possession of the images in September 2023. Further investigation of his encrypted hard drive found upskirting photos of female pupils that Lees had apparently taken on school grounds while he worked as a teacher. Cops also found videos Lees had taken of women in his home bathroom without their knowledge, leading to his second arrest in September 2024. Lees, from Cheadle, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to five offences of voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children, and possession of extreme pornography at Chester Crown Court. He was jailed for two years on Friday, February 7. Cheshire Police’s Detective Constable Alison Shields said: ‘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.’ Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: The friendliest city in the UK has been crowned Arrow MORE: Inside Molly-Mae Hague’s sprawling Cheshire mansion worth £4,000,000 Arrow MORE: Reason MP punched man in the street revealed after he admits assault