Ex-Ashdown House School teacher jailed for pupil sex offences - BBC News

Ex-Ashdown House School teacher jailed for pupil sex offences

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Martin HaighImage source, Sussex Police
Image caption,

Martin Haigh admitted seven sexual offences against two boys

A former teacher has been jailed for 12 years for 11 sex offences against boys at a boarding school and possession of indecent images of children.

Martin Haigh was teaching at Ashdown House School, in East Sussex, in the 1970s, when he committed the crimes.

The 67-year-old, of Lavender Street, Brighton, was convicted of four offences against two boys, following a trial at Lewes Crown Court.

At a previous hearing he admitted seven other offences against two other boys.

Haigh was sentenced to a total of 11 years for the sexual offences and an additional one year for the possession of indecent images, which he also admitted.

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Image caption,

Martin Haigh committed the crimes while teaching at Ashdown House School during the 1970s

The pupils were aged between seven and 12 when the offences were committed between 1973 and 1975 at the school, near Forest Row.

Haigh was convicted of one charge of indecent assault and three of gross indecency, and admitted three charges of gross indecency and four of indecent assault.

Sussex Police said the indecent images were taken from the internet and there was no evidence they were of children known to him.

Haigh will be a registered sex offender for life and was served with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), severely restricting his access to children and computers.

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