Manchester PE teacher with "twisted secret" is banned from the classroom for life

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) ruling has been issued this week on Richard Lees, 44, who taught at Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College, Heywood, from April 25, 2022 until August 31, 2022.

He had previously pleaded guilty to five offences of voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children, and possession of extreme pornography.

Decision maker David Oatley said that because his conduct was so serious, and because there was a risk of repetition, he would never be allowed to apply to teach again.

What happened?

Lees was first arrested at the school in July 2022 for an unrelated offence which resulted in no further action against him. However, as part of this initial investigation, officers from Cheshire Constabulary seized a number of devices from his home address. This included his personal hard drive and a school-issued laptop, which he still had in his possession despite him leaving the school (in Macclesfield) the year before.

During an investigation, a number of indecent images of children were discovered on the laptop and hard drive, including images of category A, B and C, plus extreme pornography. Lees was arrested in relation to these offences and denied possession of the images, stating someone else must have gained access to the device. However, following enquiries, he was charged in September 2023.

As further enquiries were carried out before the case appeared in court, more material was discovered on the encrypted hard drive. This included voyeurism offences where he had secretly filmed women in the bathroom of his previous address in Macclesfield without their knowledge.

‘Upskirting’

Further upskirting images believed to relate to female pupils were also discovered. Data suggested these images were taken on school grounds when Lees was employed there as a rugby coach. He was arrested for these offences in September 2024 and charged the following month.

On February 7, 2025, he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for the voyeurism offences and nine months imprisonment, consecutive, for the remaining offences, making a total sentence of two years imprisonment. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

At the time of his sentencing, Detective Constable Alison Shields said: “Firstly, we would like to commend the victims of the voyeurism for their courage throughout this investigation and subsequent court process.

“Lees held a position of trust and should have been someone children could go to for support. Instead, he was hiding a twisted secret. He even had the audacity to store some of the indecent images of children on a school-issued laptop.

“Thankfully, Lees' shocking crimes were uncovered and our officers worked hard to gather a catalogue of evidence against him and bring him before the courts.

“I hope this will also encourage anyone who may have been a victim of any similar offences to come forward and report it to us.”

The TRA panel considered Lee’s offences to be “extremely serious”, and in making his decision, Mr Oatley said: “In my judgement, the lack of insight and remorse means that there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils.”