Sholing Technology College music teacher Edmund Warbrick, who dressed as Austin Powers, caught with child and animal porn

Music teacher Edmund Warbrick, pictured above, taught thousands of children during his 20-year career before he was fired when police found the disturbing images as well as animal pornography on his laptop.

Now the 48-year-old has been banned from working with children after admitting a catalogue of charges.

It came after police found sickening pictures of youngsters aged just nine and animal pornography on his laptop.

Southampton Crown Court heard how police were called in after staff at Sholing Technology College – where Warbrick has worked since 1994 – received numerous complaints about him in July last year.

He was suspended while officers investigated him before he was eventually fired by education chiefs, ten days before Christmas.

The court was told how Warbrick’s computer was seized by officers who searched his home in Middle Road, Sholing, and 18 images of children as young as nine were found – four of them in the most serious category.

There was also evidence he had been searching for pornography websites, particularly those showing children aged around 13-years-old.

 He was later charged with 18 counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child and two of possessing extreme pornographic images of animals which he pleaded guilty to at a hearing last month.

Defending Warbrick,, who dressed as film character Austin Powers at a school event, Katherine Stock said he was of previous good character and had come across the images on one or two occasions during the past two and half years after he had been drinking.

She told the court: “Mr Warbrick is very much ashamed to be in front of court today and is remorseful about accessing these images.”

She added that he had lost his job, his house was at risk as he was living off his savings and Warbrick was considering moving back to his hometown of Blackpool to be near family.

Judge Peter Henry told Warbrick there would have been victims of his crimes as he sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for two years.

He said: “These children will have been exploited to a greater or lesser extent. They will have been encouraged, or possibly worse, to get involved in this type of sexual activity and there is no doubt that as they grow into adults these children will have been damaged."

Warbrick as Austin Powers

Warbrick has also been placed on the sex offenders register while a Sexual Offences Prevention Order bans him from working with children or contacting those under 16 on the internet.

Martin Brown, headteacher at The Sholing Technology College, said: “We are aware that a former member of staff, employed by The Sholing Technology College from 1 September 1994 until 15 December 2014 – pleaded guilty to 18 counts of possession of child pornography and has been sentenced in Southampton Crown Court.

"We have been fully cooperative in the police investigation against this former member of staff.

"The safety of our students is of paramount importance to us and is therefore something we take very seriously. As a college we review our safeguarding arrangements on a continuous basis and as a result have robust procedures in place to protect our students.”