April 2023 Paedophile was allowed to let out his council flat while he served 12 years A paedophile who taught at Boris Johnson’s former school was allowed to let his council flat while serving a 12-year sentence for child sexual offences Martin Haigh, 73, – who has recently been released – was jailed in 2017 for 11 offences against four boys as young as seven while teaching at £8,000-a-year Ashdown House during the 1970s. He was also convicted of possessing vile indecent images of children. Despite being jailed, Haigh was allowed to keep his hold of the £270,000 two-bedroom flat in Brighton for the six years he was in prison. He was even given permission to choose who he would sublet the sixth-floor flat with a balcony and sea views to – as long as the rent was paid. He said the council allowed this despite tenants being banned from using their homes for criminal activity, moving house or subletting their property. Neighbours complained several times about the matter – but say their appeals were ignored. Now Haigh, who is registered blind, is living back in the property following his release from Leyhill Prison in Gloucestershire. Speaking to a reporter from the flat, the paedophile denied subletting the property and said that he had paid the rent himself while he was behind bars but allowed someone he had known for 30 years to live there rent free He said: ‘When I was being sent down, I made the housing authority aware of my sentence and, because of my disability, they agreed I would be allowed to maintain the flat provided I paid the rent. Brighton and Hove City Council said they would not comment on individual cases, but said in a statement: ‘In general terms, a prison sentence does not automatically bring a secure tenancy to an end. ‘Legally speaking, there is no realistic chance of councils succeeding with possession proceedings in instances where offences were committed outside of the area a very long time ago before the start of a tenancy.’ When it was pointed out that child sexual abuse imagery was found in Haigh’s council flat when he was arrested in 2015, the spokesman refused to comment further. When asked why Haigh had been allowed to sublet his flat, the spokesman said: ‘We do not have permission from Mr Haigh to discuss specific details of his tenancy. ‘We have checked our records and are clear that we’ve acted in accordance with the information provided to us, including by the police.’ A neighbour, who complained to the council, said: ‘Haigh should have lost his tenancy whilst in prison – not only for being there but because the child sex abuse images were found there. ‘We contacted the council several times to complain, but they did nothing. It’s disgraceful.’ Haigh taught English and science at Ashdown House in the 1970s when he abused boys who were ‘the most attentive in class’. Brighton Crown Court was told how Haigh ‘encouraged pupils’ at the school to take part in naked parades and sex games with each other between 1973 and 1975. He was convicted of four offences against two boys – an indecent assault and three counts of gross indecency. He had previously admitted seven other offences – three of gross indecency and four of indecent assault – against two other boys at the school in the same period. Haigh also admitted an offence of having indecent images of children. The child sexual abuse imagery was found on a computer at his address when it was searched by officers in 2015. Sussex Police said there was no evidence that they were children known to Haigh, but Judge Janet Waddicor sentenced him to a total of 11 years for the sex offences and a further year for possession of child sexual abuse imagery. He was also put on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, severely restricting his access to children and computers. March 2017 Paedophile jailed for 12 years for multiple sex offences and possessing indecent images A former teacher has been given a 12-year prison sentence for 11 sexual offences against four pupils at a boarding school. Martin Haigh was a teacher at Ashdown House School, Forest Row in the 1970s and as well as being convicted of sexual offences he was also convicted for the possession of indecent images of children. Haigh, 67, unemployed, of Lavender Street, Brighton, was sentenced at Brighton Crown Court today after a four day trial on charges of offences against two of the boys. He was convicted of four offences, one of indecent assault and three of gross indecency, against two boys who were then pupils aged between seven and 12, at the school in the 1970s. At a previous hearing before the trial, Haigh had also admitted seven other offences, three of gross indecency and four of indecent assault, against two other boys at the school during the same period. He also admitted an offence of possessing indecent images of children, found on a computer at his address when officers searched it in 2015. Haigh was sentenced to a total of 11 years for the sexual offences and an additional one year for the possession of indecent images. He will be a registered sex offender for life and has been served with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to children and computers.