Teacher sacked over pictures

A teacher has been sacked from a Dudley school and police have charged him over allegations he had nearly 100,000 indecent images of children on his home computer.

Matthew Bullas, a 32-year-old teacher at Castle High School, is charged with possession of indecent images of children downloaded from the internet.

Police say the images the teacher is alleged to have possessed do not feature any child who currently attends the school or has attended the school in the past.

Bullas was charged yesterday and will appear before the town's magistrates on Wednesday, facing nine charges. The first count alleges he possessed 98,266 indecent images of children.

He was initially arrested at his Halesowen home on November 16 and computer equipment seized following information passed to the force's Child Online Safeguarding team.

A statement from West Midlands Police said the school immediately suspended him in line with nationally agreed procedures to safeguard children.

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Hyde said: "The alleged indecent images were not downloaded on school systems and do not feature any child who currently attends the school or has attended the school in the past."

A letter to parents from Miss Michelle King, headteacher at Castle High, says the dismissal followed an internal investigation. Dudley Council has set up a phone line – 01384 816783 – for concerned parents.

Jane Porter, Dudley Council's acting director of children's services, today confirmed a member of staff at Castle High School has been dismissed.