A former headteacher has been jailed for 16 months after he was found to have more than 1,000 indecent images of children.

Timothy Moule, from Telford, pleaded guilty to four counts of making indecent images of children and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

The 53-year-old, who was a head teacher at schools in Wolverhampton and Shropshire, was arrested at home in September after officers were told he was sharing indecent images of children on social media platform X, West Mercia force said.

He was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on October 31.

During his arrest, Moule denied having any additional digital devices beyond the two already known to police, the force said.

After officers told him they would search his home, he later handed over two tablets on which the illegal images were stored, the force added.

The court heard that Moule’s tablets contained 141 Category A images – the most serious – as well as 149 Category B images, 789 Category C images and 21 prohibited images.

“Moule is a dangerous individual whose obsession with young children is a menace to society,” said DC Rob Manders of West Mercia Police.

Moule was jailed for similar offenses in 2018.

It has emerged during investigations since then that he had secretly filmed boys changing and downloaded child abuse images.

He was sentenced to 52 months on charges of voyeurism and making indecent images.

More than 3,500 indecent images were found on his devices at that time.