Former ICT teacher Matthew Gilkes has been jailed for 16 years
15:30, 15 May 2026Updated 15:30, 15 May 2026
Matthew Gilkes (Image: Lancashire Constabulary )
A Greater Manchester teacher has been jailed after police discovered ‘more than a million’ up-skirting shots of pupils on his devices.
Matthew Gilkes, formerly an ICT teacher at a high school in Greater Manchester, was caught taking pictures of children at a leisure centre in Chorley in 2024, Lancashire Police said. He was identified and arrested by a trace of his car leaving the centre.
More than 80 devices were seized from his home in Chorley, revealing thousands of indecent images of children stored on memory cards, cameras, spy pens and laptops – including one that was school issued.
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The force said that many of the images were of pupils at his school and had been taken using cube cameras, and cameras disguised as pens. But Gilkes also used fake social media accounts to pose as a teenage boy, speaking to numerous underage girls and pressuring them to send indecent images and pictures.
The 47-year-old, formerly of Harrison Road in Chorley, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to 42 charges, including up-skirting, engaging in sexual communication with a child, possessing indecent images of children, and causing or inciting a girl aged between 13 and 15 to engage in sexual activity.
At Preston Crown Court this week he was jailed for 16 years with an additional five year licence, and was handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Matthew Gilkes used cameras disguised as pens to take indecent images of his pupils(Image: Lancashire Constabulary )
Det Con Holly McClave and Det Con Rachel Phillips, of Lancashire Constabulary’s Exploitation Team, worked on the investigation that brought Gilkes to justice.
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.
“We will continue to target those who exploit and abuse young people, we will listen to victims, and we will do all we can to put offenders before the courts, as we have done here.”
If you or someone you know has been the victim of a sexual offence report it online via https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/ or call 101. “You should do so knowing you will be believed, you will be listened to, and we will do everything in our power to put the perpetrator before the courts,” the force said.
Specialist support for anyone in Lancashire affected by sexual violence is available through Victim Support. Further information is available at victimsupport.org.uk/lancashire.