Mark Robert Haslock, who teaches at Ysgol y Grango in Rhosllannerchrugog, Wrexham, told a jury he deleted the folders from his computer
A teacher accused of having indecent images of children claimed he was looking for software to help his students when the material appeared on his computer.
Mark Robert Haslock , who is head of engineering, design and technology at Ysgol y Grango in Rhosllannerchrugog, Wrexham, insisted he had not downloaded the images onto his home computer equipment.
The 47-year-old, of Elwy Gardens, Llandudno, told the jury at Caernarfon Crown Court that, during the search for software, a large number of files and folders had popped up on his computer screen.
He said that, as he scrolled down through the folders, some of them appeared to be of a pornographic nature.
Haslock denies three charges of making indecent photographs of a child between June 2014 and August 2015, and a charge of possessing indecent images between the same dates.
He also faces a charge of taking an indecent image of a child and one charge of voyeurism. The offences are said to have been committedd between August 1 and August 20 last year.
Asked by his barrister David Toal what he had done, Haslock said: “I highlighted all the folders and deleted them all. They disappeared from the desktop.”
Haslock told the jury he was appointed to Ysgol y Grango in 2014 and said he was “anxious” the school did not have appropriate design software for Year 11 students to use.
He said he had asked the school to obtain the software but officials said they would not do so immediately.
“It made me quite anxious,” he said.
“The students needed this software to pass their exams and I looked for a short term fix.”
Haslock added he had told his wife what had happened.
The software was subsequently purchased by the school and installed by mid-October, the court heard.
Earlier, computer expert Joshua Butler said he had access to specialist software and was able to determine some of the files had been accessed and viewed.
He added some of the files had been viewed up to five times.
Asked by prosecutor Simon Rogers if the software he used was able to determine when those files had been accessed, Mr Butler said the earliest date he found was June 28, 2014, and there were other dates up to August 18 last year.
Judge Peter Heywood asked Haslock if he had ever viewed the files, but he denied that he had.
The jury has already heard that police executed a search warrant at Haslock’s home on August 20, 2015.
He was arrested and various items of computer equipment were seized for analysis by experts.
More than 1,200 indecent images of children - many of them deleted but recovered by experts - were found on two computers.
Some of the files were found in a folder named “Virus Vaults”, which Haslock claims is where downloaded files were placed prior to their being scanned for anything that may harm the computer equipment.
Mr Butler told the jury that creating such a folder to download software was worthless and offered the computer no additional security.
He added the computer equipment seized from Haslock already had anti-virus software installed.
A minature camera found hidden in a computer device was also recovered, and footage of a voyeuristic nature was found.
Haslock told detectives the camera was to be used by his wife to film hedgehogs and denied it had been used for his own sexual gratification.
The trial continues.
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