April 2017 Pervert teacher who viewed hundreds of child and animal porn pictures is SPARED jail A pervert teacher who viewed hundreds of child abuse images, as well as images of bestiality, has avoided prison. Former Belfairs Academy teacher Neil Gardner, now living in Bradford who admitted four counts of possession of indecent images of children, has been handed a community order after appearing at Basildon Crown Court for sentencing. The 57-year-old also admitted possessing five vile images of people performing sex acts with dogs and horses. Laura Kenyon, prosecuting, said the A-level teacher was discovered after his landlady started snooping in the mistaken belief he had moved out of his Westcliff lodgings last July without paying rent. After discovering the images, the landlady contacted police who attended and seized printed images and a laptop, on which they found more indecent images of children and bestial images. It was also evident he had visited indecent websites. He was arrested at his new work place in Yorkshire. Ms Kenyon said he admitted viewing the images, adding: “He stated he was not interested in sexual gratification from these images and he suggested he didn’t realise he was doing anything wrong. He agreed it was wrong for a teacher to view naked images of children, but denied being a paedophile or being in to child sex images.” Gardener must sign the sex offenders register for five years, attend a sexual offenders treatment programme and be the subject of an order which restricts his use of computers. February 2017 Teacher admits indecent image of children charges after landlady found vile images stashed in his room A paedophile teacher was caught when his landlady discovered sickening images of children he had printed out and stashed in his room. Former Belfairs Academy teacher Neil Gardner admitted four counts of possession of indecent images of children when he appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court. The 57-year-old also admitted possessing five vile images of people performing sex acts with dogs and horses. Barry Hargreaves, prosecuting, said the A-level teacher was discovered after his landlady started snooping in the mistaken belief he had moved out of his Westcliff lodgings in July without paying rent. He said: “His landlady went into the room because she was owed some money. She found printed images there and police came in and seized a laptop that he had left there.” On the laptop, police found ten of the most serious category A images, showing adults abusing young children. There were also 30 category B images and 387 category C images of children. A fifth charge involved 34 prohibited images of children. In fact, Gardner, who spent two years at the school teaching history, sociology and psychology after a career in pension management, had simply gone to Yorkshire for a job interview. The court heard he has never taught children as young as those depicted in his perverted collection of images. Gardner spoke only to confirm his name, his new address at the Salvation Army, in Leeds Road, Bradford, and to enter guilty pleas. In his LinkedIn profile, Gardner describes himself as a “flexible, experienced pensions administrator” and lists Capita, BP and Aon as his former employers. The hearing was adjourned for a pre-sentence report. Gardner will be sentenced at the court on March 14.