August 2013

Ex-school IT man jailed over thousands of indecent pictures of children

A FORMER school IT technician has been jailed for possessing thousands of indecent images of children, including photos of girls in school uniforms.

Peter Hoodless, who worked at Hessle High School, was convicted by a jury at Hull Crown Court of possessing 7,136 indecent images over seven years. Almost 100 of those fell into the two most serious categories of abuse.

He had denied downloading the photos, claiming his computer had been hacked into by a paedophile.

Recorder Tahir Khan QC jailed him for 18 months.

He told Hoodless: “It is clear that you were engaged in this sort of offending for at least some of the time you were working as an IT technician at a high school, although you did not seek that employment to satisfy your sexual interest in young children.

“You were offending in this way for a substantial number of years. This is serious offending.

“The public are concerned over this type of offending and the sentence must reflect the public disquiet and discourage others.

“That can only be achieved by imposing substantial sentences of custody.”

Hoodless, 33, was suspended when he was arrested and later sacked. He had been working at the school since June 2011, after studying computer game design at the University of Lincoln’s Hull campus.

He was caught following an international investigation into paedophile rings by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Detectives also found 99 indecent movies of children on his computer when they raided his home in Thanet Road, east Hull.

Hoodless later claimed he met a man called Mike on an online chatroom for computer experts, who hacked into his machine and placed the images on it.

The court heard he has continued to deny downloading the material himself.

His barrister David Gordon said: “This kind of offence is attached to a great deal of shame and it isn’t easy for people to immediately come to terms with their culpability and condition.

“He is in a stable relationship and his partner has, and is, standing by him. There must be something positive in his personality and character that for her to do that. All of this has been a terrible embarrassment to her.”

He had no previous convictions and there was no evidence he had ever tried to contact children inappropriately or had made any of the images himself, said Mr Gordon.

Hoodless was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order.

Hessle High School statement

Sarah Young, executive headteacher at Hessle High School, said: “I would like to reassure parents and the local community that at no point has there been any evidence that any members of the school community have been at risk.

“On the day of the arrest, the police notified us of their concerns and the trustees immediately took the decision to terminate his employment, assisted by the East Riding Safeguarding Children’s Board throughout the process.

“Mr Hoodless has not returned to the school.

“As a probationary member of staff, with a very short employment time, there was limited lone-working for this non-classroom based member of support staff.

“At all times the safety of the learners within our school has been and remains our highest priority.”

July 2013

School IT technician had 7,000 indecent pictures of children

AN IT technician at Hessle High School has been convicted of possessing thousands of indecent images of children and photos of girls in school uniforms.

Peter Hoodless, 33, claimed his computer had been hacked into by a paedophile when police discovered the catalogue of images on his home computer.

However, a jury at Hull Crown Court took just 15 minutes to convict him of possessing 7,300 depraved images of girls as young as six and another 7,000 of young girls in their school uniforms.

He was caught following an international investigation into paedophile rings by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) based in London.

Hoodless was suspended by Hessle High as soon as he was arrested and has now lost his job as he faces the prospect of a prison sentence.

Recorder Tahir Khan QC has warned him he faces jail and has ordered reports to assess his dangerousness.

He told Hoodless: “I feel I will be assisted by a presentence report not because I have in mind an alternative to custody but just to know more about you.

“Although you have not been in trouble with the police before, I still have to consider the issue as to whether you represent any sort of danger.

“It is almost certain you will go to prison for a significant amount of time.”

For seven years, Hoodless searched and downloaded images of girls as young as six.

He had been to the University of Lincoln, based in Hull, to study computer game design before getting a job at Hessle High as an IT technician in June 2011.

Hoodless was finally brought to justice after specialist detectives caught him using a paedophile website hunting for images of girls.

Humberside Police raided his home in Thanet Road, east Hull, and seized his computer, CDs and memory discs containing disturbing images.

They discovered 7,300 indecent images of children, some at the worst level of seriousness.

He was also convicted of possessing two extreme images involving adults.

Detectives also recovered 99 indecent movies of children.

Hoodless claimed he had been on a chatroom to ask for help from other computer experts and claimed he was befriended by a mystery man called Mike.

He claimed Mike sent him software to fix his computer then hacked his machine and placed child porn on it.

The jury saw through his lies and took only minutes to convict him unanimously of 12 counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Sarah Young, executive headteacher at Hessle High School, said Hoodless was suspended immediately, as soon as Humberside Police contacted the academy.

Hoodless, who was on a probationary contract, was subsequently dismissed and never returned to the school.

Mrs Young insisted there was no evidence that any pupils had been at risk.

She said: “We have been working with the East Riding Safeguarding Children’s Board and assisting Humberside Police with their enquiries regarding charges against Mr Hoodless.

“I would like to reassure parents and the local community that at no point has there been any evidence that any members of the school community have been at risk.

“On the day of the arrest, the police notified us of their concerns and the trustees immediately took the decision to terminate his employment, assisted by the East Riding Safeguarding Children’s Board throughout the process.

“Mr Hoodless has never returned to the school.”

Mrs Young said Hoodless had passed all checks under the academy’s robust safeguarding procedures on appointment.

No concerns of any kind were highlighted on enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks carried out before he was employed.

She said: “As a probationary member of staff, with a very short employment time, there was limited lone-working for this non-classroom based member of support staff.

“At all times the safety of the learners within our school has been and remains our highest priority.”

Hoodless is due to be sentenced next month.