Former Manchester teacher upskirted students with cameras hidden in pens
Matthew Gilkes has been jailed for 16 years with an additional five year licence
A former Manchester high school teacher has been jailed after he secretly took more than a million upskirt images of schoolgirls using cameras hidden inside pens.
Matthew Gilkes, from Chorley, has been jailed for 16 years and handed an extra five years on licence after admitting 42 offences involving children.
The 47-year-old was arrested after taking photos of children at a leisure centre in Chorley in August 2024.
Police traced his car from the car park and searched his home and workplace.
They found more than 80 devices, spy cameras and thousands of indecent images of children.
Officers say many of the images were taken at the Greater Manchester high school where he worked as an ICT teacher, with cameras disguised as pens and tiny cubes.
He also used fake social media profiles to pose as a teenage boy and groom girls into sending indecent images and videos.
Gilkes pleaded guilty to 42 charged including:
- operate equipment beneath clothing of another without consent, commonly known as upskirting
- engaging in sexual communication with a child
- indecent images of children offences
- and cause / incite a girl 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity.
As well as his sentence, he was handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
DC McClave said: “Matthew Gilkes is a highly dangerous man who has shown persistent predatory behaviour towards young girls who he has taking advantage of, groomed and exploited for his own sexual gratification.
“The victims in this case have shown incredible bravery in speaking about what happened to them and I commend them for their courage. I hope this sentence gives them some sense that justice has been done."