ANDREW SANDARS BRISTOL AND WRIGHTON TEACHER JAILED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In September 2009, a disturbing case emerged involving Andrew Sandars, a teacher whose seemingly respectable life concealed a dark and disturbing secret. Sandars, who was employed at Redland High School in Bristol, was found to have led a double life that involved the distribution of child abuse images from his residence in Wrington, a village near Weston-super-Mare. Despite being perceived publicly as a successful and inspirational educator, Sandars harbored a severe addiction to child pornography, which ultimately led to his downfall.

Sandars, aged 54 at the time, pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to the possession and distribution of indecent images of children. Specifically, he admitted to six counts of distributing a total of 4,695 indecent images and a seventh count of creating nearly 12,000 images—11,969 in total—by downloading them from the internet during 2007 and 2008. The court proceedings took place at Bristol Crown Court, where Judge Simon Darwall-Smith delivered a stern warning about the gravity of his actions. The judge emphasized that each image represented a real child who had been abused, and that such images serve to satisfy the sexual gratification of viewers like Sandars. The images ranged in depravity, with some classified at level 5, indicating a particularly heinous nature.

While acknowledging that Sandars had taken steps to address his issues, the judge made it clear that his actions warranted serious consequences. As part of his sentence, Sandars was subjected to an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which prohibited him from having unsupervised contact with minors. Additionally, he was disqualified from working with children and was ordered to register as a sex offender for an indefinite period.

Prosecutor Richard Posner detailed the police investigation, revealing that members of the Avon and Somerset police’s internet child abuse team had visited Sandars’ home after suspecting a link to a computer user already under investigation. When Sandars’ computer equipment was seized and examined, authorities uncovered a series of chat room exchanges in which he sent and received child abuse images. These exchanges linked him to a network of internet users who shared similar disturbing content. The police analysis showed that most of the images downloaded by Sandars were at the lower end of the severity scale, but alarmingly, 537 images were classified at the highest level of depravity.

During a subsequent interview, Sandars expressed deep remorse and regret for his actions. He explained that he viewed his involvement as a form of fantasy, drawn into chat rooms where he became addicted. He insisted that he never intended to harm any child directly and that his activities were confined to the internet. His defense lawyer, Michael Cullum, highlighted that Sandars had undergone ten therapy sessions with the Lucy Faithful Foundation, aimed at addressing his issues and preventing future offenses. Cullum emphasized that Sandars had recognized the severity of his problem and had taken steps to confront it, including restricting his internet access at home with a password known only to his wife, and ensuring that his online activity was monitored.

Furthermore, the court was reassured that Sandars’ criminal activities did not extend to his professional life. Redland High School’s head, Caroline Bateson, confirmed that during the investigation, police verified that Sandars had maintained a clear separation between his personal and professional lives. She stated, “During the sentencing hearing, emphasis was placed on the fact that Mr Sandars lived two lives: a life of fantasy and a professional life and that the two did not meet in any way. This reinforces the police assurance that the charges did not relate to the school and that no pupil, past or present, nor any other member of staff at Redland High School were involved in any way.” The school also assured that all necessary background checks had been conducted at the time of Sandars’ employment, and that the safety and well-being of students remained their top priority.