A former deputy head teacher of an Ealing Catholic school has been jailed for possessing hundreds of child abuse images involving children as young as two-years-old.
Peter William Allott, of Marchwood Crescent, Ealing, would use the dating app Grindr to find regular chemsex parties involving the drugs crystal meth and MCAT.
The court heard how the 37-year-old, who resigned from his position at the Catholic St Benedict's School in Ealing after his arrest last year, used video conferencing site Zoom to share and download child abuse images, featuring children as young as two, with up to 25 people online in a chat room.
He was sentenced to 33 months' imprisonment at Blackfriars Crown Court on Thursday (May 5) having previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, one of distributing them, one of extreme pornography and another of possessing Class A drug MDMA.
He shared images with one person online who called himself "London Paedo".
The court heard how he offered child abuse images, to homosexual men online, in a bid to arouse them and would save images sent by others to his hard drive.
Cocktails of drugs
On occasion he would participate in "slamming", the act of taking a "cocktail of drugs", the court was told by Daniel Taylor, defending.
Some of the images, of which Allott stored 322 on his hard drive, involved "pain and distress" to the children featured in them prompting him to say he was "surprised if someone was still alive", said Michael Shaw, prosecuting.
In an effort to stop himself looking at the sick images, Allott eventually took his hard drive to school, where he began his role as deputy head in 2012, where they could not be accessed on the school's technology.
The court heard that his behaviour, which spanned two and a half years, began when the former Tory councillor, who represented the Perivale ward from 2006 to 2010, felt lonely in his role as deputy head.
Aged 12, Allott was sexually abused by a man who forced oral sex on him, which led to problems in forging relationships in adulthood, the court was told.
'Leading a double life'
Allott, who had a previous spell with St Benedict's when he was 25 before leaving to study, lost his mother to terminal cancer in 2012 and his grandmother in 2013.
The court heard how his grieving was a motivating factor in his behaviour which also saw him spend up to £600 per week on drugs.
Judge Hillen said: "You were leading a double life.
"Over the weekends your were engaged with chemsex parties using crystal meth and MCAT, having sex with multiple partners but also watching these images.
"On Monday morning you were putting on your suit and you would be the brilliant high flying deputy head master doing your public duty.
"Children suffered for your sexual gratification. That is a knowledge that you must bear with you for the rest of your life".
Allot, originally of Barnsley, wore a dark pink jumper and said "thank you" after being sentenced.
None of the images involved pupils at St Benedicts School.
