Teacher admits possessing indecent images of children

A religious studies teacher from Northampton has pleaded guilty to a string of sexual offences after officers raided his home and seized devices containing indecent images of children.
Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.
Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.

Philip Allen, who has since been fired from his job at Shenley Brook School, is a prominent figure in religious education nationally and has written frequently for the Times Educational Supplement.

But today the 48-year-old, of Potterspury, appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to six charges of making indecent images of children and a charge of possessing prohibited images.

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As part of his charges, Allen admitted possessing 172 “category A” indecent images of children, the most extreme kind. He also admitted having 46 category B images and 37 of category C.

Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.
Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.

Prosecuting, Jerena Tomaszewska, said Allen’s crimes were uncovered during a police warrant on the house he shares with his wife in High Street in June this year.

She said: “Images were found on a laptop and individual images found on an external hard drive.

“The report shows that some of the images were also backed up from the defendant’s iPad.”

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Allen had been a member of the TES teacher panel and a national TES advisor for key stage 4 religious studies.

Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.
Phillip Allen, pictured here leaving Northampton Magistrates' Court today, has pleaded guilty to posessing indecent images of children.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction and committed the former teacher for sentencing a Northampton Crown Court on November 11.

He was bailed until under a condition he could not come into unsupervised contact with an under 18.

Mrs Tomaszewska said Allen could receive a custodial sentence of between 26 weeks and a year for the crimes.

Presiding magistrate Diana Whittaker told Allen: “Our powers of sentencing are insufficient for you, these charges are too serious.”

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