A routine check by a school IT worker on a classics teacher's computer revealed images of pupils and ultimately the discovery of an archive of indecent pictures of young boys.

Former teacher at Prep school Colet Court in Barnes Anthony Fuggle, of Sandy Lane, Sutton was this morning spared jail as he was handed a four month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after previously pleading guilty to six counts of possessing indecent images of children and seven counts of making indecent images of children.

None of the counts involved children at his school, nor was there any suggestion of any impropriety towards any children he had been resposnible for.

Appearing at Kingston Crown Court, prosecuting, Ian McLaughlin said Fuggle's interest in boys was discovered by a colleague conducting a network check in September 2013.

While examining his hard drive, IT worker Justin Barrett found head shots of pupils and one one where the boy holding a baguette to his privates, and reported the discovery prompting a full audit of his computer the following day.

This revealed a greater archive of pictures downloaded from the internet of young boys, none of whom were St Paul pupils, as well as erotic literature featuring adults with children.

The school, which is connected to St Paul's School, chose to monitor the 58-year-old's activity on the computer over the next couple of days and found he was searching for further images.

The police were called, who arrested him and seized both his work and home computers.

More than two thousand images were found. 2,674 were placed in category C, while 159 were deemed category B in terms of the graphic nature. 

None of the images he was later tried over were those of children at the school or that he knew.

In mitigation his lawyer Jane Humphryes said Fuggle, who taught at the school for 21 years, has no previous convictions and an exemplary past as a dedicated teacher.

He had 28 sessions with a behavioural psychologist to try to overcome his urges, but was unable to resist. Since his arrest, she said, he has been hounded by the press and shamed publicly.

As well as the suspended sentence Fuggle was also handed a community supervision order for two years, has limited computer use, and must pay £1,200 in court costs