A PERVERTED former teacher, school governor and magistrate hid a six-year obsession with downloading indecent images of young boys, a court heard.

Vincent Copeland, of Leigh Road, Leigh, admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

The 60-year-old, who also served on Southend Council’s children and lifelong learning scrutiny committee, fiddled nervously with his glasses as the charges were read out.

They related to seven images found on his email account from November 13, 2015, but the court heard his computer was unable to be searched because he had dumped it in a bin.

Colette Harper, prosecuting, said Copeland “had never touched a child” but he had shared images with other men online and pretended to be a 14-year-old boy for online chats.

He had also arranged to meet up with a fellow paedophile.

She said: “Mr Copeland, at the time of these offences, was a magistrate and a school governor and a retired school teacher.

“The images were all found via the defendant’s email as part of an operation in relation to his email account.

“A warrant was executed on a high risk basis on November 19, 2015, at his address.”

Copeland was a former teacher at Thorpe Bay School – now Futures College – and a school governor at both St Thomas More High School in Westcliff and Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Leigh.

Miss Harper said a letter from Copeland to an unknown person was found at his home.

It said: “You know already, or will shortly find out, I’m in trouble for looking at illegal pornography online.

“I’m ashamed of this and will serve my punishment.

“I hope that you can forgive me.”

Copeland told police he had been downloading images of boys for “five or six years” and was interested in those aged 15 or over.

But the court heard the images and movies found, which range from the most serious category A to category C, involved boys who were between ten and 12 years old.

Miss Harper said: “He did have a laptop but when he found that his AOL account had been closed down he panicked and got rid of the computer and threw it in a bin in Leigh.”

Matthew Bone, defending, said the case was a “crying shame” and Copeland was prepared for his punishment.

He said: “Mr Copeland has been a dedicated public servant for many years.

“He fully cooperated with the police, made admissions, and he’s pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity.”

He will be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court at a later date.