Former teacher jailed for carrying out dozens of child sex offences over 40 years

A former teacher and choirmaster who carried out dozens of child sex offences over a period of more than 40 years has been jailed for 12 years.

David Pickthall, from Cheveley in Suffolk, was investigated in relation to offences against 19 people in Brentwood, Essex, and Upminster, east London, between 1980 and 2021.

The 66-year-old was working as a choirmaster in the London borough of Havering and as a teacher in Brentwood during some of the time period when the offences took place.

Pickthall was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2015 for his services to education and charity, and had worked on a number of TV and film projects, including Wallace and Gromit.

He has been jailed after admitting 16 counts of indecent assault, 10 counts of voyeurism and three counts of making an indecent image of a child.

Pickthall initially faced 37 counts but they were condensed down to 29 in court - with police saying the charges still covered all of his offending against his 19 victims.

Judge Mary Loram KC, sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court, told Pickthall: "You are without a shadow of a doubt a predatory and manipulative paedophile who has adapted his offending over the years."

She added: "If you hadn't been arrested you would have carried on."

Following his guilty pleas in October, Detective Constable Chelsie Stamford from Essex Police said: "I want to praise the strength demonstrated by the victims in this case for coming forward and telling us what happened to them.

"David Pickthall subjected them to an unimaginable ordeal that will stay with them for their whole lives.

"Their evidence has ensured we've been able to hold Pickthall accountable for what he has done to them and he will face justice.

"Ultimately, he was faced with no option other than to admit his crimes."

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According to a deleted online biography detailing his career achievements he was the "musical voice" of villainous penguin Feathers McGraw in the 1993 short film Wallace And Gromit: The Wrong Trousers.

The 66-year-old also worked on the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later and with a number of philharmonic orchestras.

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