Bedfordshire secondary school teacher Ian Stockdale jailed for plotting to abuse nine-year-old girl

Police swooped in to arrest a teacher who had plotted online to commit sex offences against a nine-year-old girl because of the "significant threat" he posed to children at his secondary school.

Ian Stockdale, 51, began discussions with a woman and social media about sexually abusing her daughter, but did not know she was an undercover police officer from Bedfordshire Police.

Stockdale, of Bedford, began discussing how the woman could abuse the child and the possibility of meeting the woman and her daughter to commit sexual offences against the child.

He had arranged to meet the woman on 17 July last year but because of the "significant threat" he posed to children as a teacher at a secondary school in Bedford at the time, officers swooped in to arrest him at his home three days earlier.

He was sentenced at Luton Crown Court after admitting one count of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, two counts of making indecent photographs of children and one count of possessing indecent photographs of children.

As well as four years behind bars, he was handed a lifelong sexual harm prevention order.

Officers seized devices from his address which identified numerous explicit photos of children and explicit conversations about sexually abusing children.

Det Con Bianca Lazar from Bedfordshire Police cyber hub said: “Stockdale is a dangerous predator who posed a significant threat to children.

“I have no doubt that if we had not arrested him prior to the arranged meet, he would have gone ahead with his plan to meet our undercover officer under the belief that he was meeting the woman to commit sexual offences against her child.

“This behaviour is disturbing of anybody, but of a teacher, who should be a trusted member of our society, it somehow makes it all the more worrying and disturbing.”