Jail for teacher who used ‘spy pens’ to take upskirt photos of pupils

A search of his home and workplace uncovered more than 80 devices, including a school issue laptop, along with spy pens, handheld cameras, and memory cards containing numerous indecent images of children

A pen used by Matthew Gilkes, who took more than a million upskirt images of pupils using secret cameras. Picture: Lancashire Constabulary/PA

A former teacher has been jailed after he took more than a million upskirt images of pupils using secret cameras hidden in pens.

The prolific offending of Matthew Gilkes, aged 47, was unmasked after he was caught taking photographs of children under cubicles at a leisure centre in Chorley, Lancashire, in August 2024.