A primary school teacher who was caught with “disturbing” sexual images of young children has been banned from the profession, 

Paul Woodford, 45, was teaching at Wykeham Primary School in Neasden when police received a tip-off that he might have indecent images of children on his personal laptops. 

He was suspended from his job while police investigated and in October 2021 he was convicted of six counts of making indecent images of children. 

In total Woodford had 217 sexual images of children across two different devices, of which 82 were of the most serious and graphic kind.

Woodford was sentenced to one year of imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. 

He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years. 

The judge who sentenced Woodford noted that the children pictured were of a similar age to those he taught. 

Woodford had taught at the school since 2014 and had previously been described as “extremely open minded and enthusiastic”. 

A former colleague said his “relationship with pupils was good, based on mutual respect”. 

On December 15, 2023, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel decided that Woodford should be banned from teaching indefinitely. 

Decision maker David Oatley said: “Mr Woodford’s actions were deliberate. The sentencing remarks presented to the panel stated that there was evidence that Mr Woodford had carried out deliberate searches for images of young children. It was earlier commented that the images found on his devices were disturbing."

Woodford will not be entitled to apply for the restoration of his eligibility to teach. 

Everton Sharpe, head teacher at Wykeham Primary School, said: "Mr Woodford was a PE teacher who joined the school in May 2014. 

"Once alerted in April 2019 about his potential involvement in the possession of indecent images downloaded from the internet, the school took prompt action. He was immediately suspended and did not return to the school site.

"These offences took place outside of school and our pupils were not involved in any way. Subsequently, he was dismissed. In December 2021, he pleaded guilty to the charges.  

"In December 2023, Mr Woodford was banned from teaching indefinitely by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA). 

"We take safeguarding concerns incredibly seriously and have robust procedures in place. We followed all of these procedures and cooperated in a thorough investigation, led by the police and Local Authority Designated Officer.

"Parents/carers have been informed of this and should they have any concerns, I would encourage them to speak to me.”