By Jonathan BarnesA PERVERT who stored more than 40,000 indecent images of children from the internet was a teacher at Suffolk College, it has been revealed.

By Jonathan Barnes

A PERVERT who stored more than 40,000 indecent images of children from the internet was a teacher at Suffolk College, it has been revealed.

Richard Sugden, 53, of Nottidge Road, Ipswich, admitted downloading the pornographic images, which included pictures of dead children and a deceased youngster lying in a coffin.

He is facing a jail term for the offences when he appears before a judge at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court on September 29 for sentencing.

Sugden, who stored the images on compact discs, was a mathematics teacher at the Ipswich-based college and taught a wide range of students.

He is believed to have been caught as part of the ongoing Operation Ore crackdown into child pornography.

Last night, Peter Funnell, assistant principal at Suffolk College, said Sugden had been suspended when the police investigation started and added the teacher had left by “mutual agreement” during the last academic year.

“There is no evidence that any of his other activities were carried out whilst on college premises or using college materials,” said Mr Funnell.

“He had worked at the college for a number of years, teaching maths-related subjects to a range of groups.

“We co-operated fully with the police inquiry and dealt with the matter properly and professionally.”

Sugden appeared at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court last week and pleaded guilty to 15 specimen counts of making indecent photographs of children.

He pleaded not guilty to a further count regarding an image of a mutilated body, which was left to lie on file. The offences occurred between February 2001 and October 2002.

The court was told police officers had found the images concealed on several compact discs owned by Sugden and he had deliberately saved the pictures.

jonathan.barnes@eadt.co.uk