A FORMER teacher, Scoutmaster and computer studies pioneer at Hereford Cathedral School set up a secret camera in one of the school's changing rooms to film girl pupils undressing.

Worcester Crown Court heard how Roger Toll had about a dozen recordings from his hidden camera, filmed over four years. Each tape that police found at his home was catalogued with which girls were on it and what could be seen.

Toll, aged 54, from Bishopstone, near Hereford, admitted making the recordings and separate charges of downloading nearly 900 indecent images of children from the internet. The court was told that one picture he purchased showed a toddler.

Jailing Toll for 27 months, His Honour Judge John Cavell said that it was hard to imagine a more flagrant breach of trust by a teacher.

Toll, a 30-year stalwart of the Cathedral School who left in 2003, was also banned from working with children and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Judge Cavell made an order that would ensure all the recordings and images - dating from the 1980s to 2004 - were destroyed.

The court heard how the net closed in on Toll when investigators monitoring child-porn websites in the USA found credit card details that linked him to indecent images bought off the internet in 2002. Those details were passed to police in the UK.

Neal Williams, prosecuting, said that Toll had more than 900 such images stored inside his computer. All the images were on encrypted files that detectives needed help from hi-tech crimebusters at the Home Office to open because Toll would not provide passwords.

The tapes shot by Toll's secret camera - showing schoolgirls dressing and undressing or changing out of wet swimsuits - were also seized along with lists of who and what was on them.

When first interviewed, Toll initially denied any offences. It was not until the final interview - and then only in a prepared statement - that he confessed to making the films and buying the images, said Mr Williams.

In the statement Toll said that the images, like the films, had been solely for his use.

Samantha Powis, defending, told the court that the case had cost Toll - who kept his head bowed throughout the hearing - almost everything.

"He will be extremely vulnerable in prison. One wonders how he might cope," she said.