AN UNREPENTANT paedophile teacher cried "it wasn't me" as he was led from the dock to start his 33 month jail sentence.

Daniel Fisher was the head of biology at The Holt girls school in Wokingham when he was arrested by police in 2013 after using MSN, Skype and instant messaging service KIK to groom young girls.

After searching his two desktop computers and iPhone police found 33 indecent images of children and web logs where he had encouraged young girls to expose themselves and masturbate in front of him.

The judge heard how the 35-year-old fantasised about having sex in a school and tried to lure girls back to his home in Merchants Place, Reading, although there was no evidence any of them made the trip.

David Matthew, prosecuting, said: "The offences were found to be taking place over three years.

"These 15 counts likely are a small proportion of the number of children contacted by this defendant.

"He has shown an absolute refusal to acknowledge it was him that was doing this."

Alistair Grainger, defending said Fisher was of previous good character and had not approached any of the students at his school.

"His teaching career will be in tatters," he said.

He added that none of Fisher's previous convictions were in relation to contact offences.

John Reddihough, sentencing at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday, February 10, told the teacher, he would be sent to prison for his crimes which took place between March 2010 and his arrest in December 2013.

He said: "Your crimes included the manipulation and exploitation of under aged girls for your own sexual gratification.

"There was grooming on your part. You used a similar approach in many of the chats seeking to compliment the girls on their appearance and in other ways seeking to gain their confidence.

"At the time you were a teacher at a school and some of the internet chats discussed sex in a school setting.

"Furthermore you would have known from your job as a teacher and the training you received the seriousness of what you were doing.

"The evidence against you was clear and strong. You were caught out by you own lies.

"Unless you accept what you did there is a risk of further similar offending."

The teacher, who was nominated for a teaching award, has not worked at a school since his arrest and will not be allowed to work with children again.

Suzanne Richards, headteacher of The Holt, speaking after Fisher's conviction in January said: “We can confirm that Daniel Fisher was a teacher but is no longer employed by the school and has not taught here since December 2013.

“I would like to reassure our parents and the wider community that none of the offences for which he has been found guilty relate to any member of The Holt community.”

Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service said: "Daniel Fisher, a former teacher at the Holt School in Wokingham, engaged 15 girls aged 13-15 in sexually explicit chat online, using MSN, Skype and the instant messaging app KIK, and invited some of the girls to send him indecent images.

“Fisher initially claimed that his computer had been hacked. However, on 11 January 2016, after a week-long trial at Reading Crown Court Fisher was convicted, by a jury, of 15 counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in a sexual activity and two counts of making indecent photographs of children, despite his denials."

Rate My Teacher, a website that allows pupils to rate teachers based on their helpfulness, clarity and other aspects has eight ratings for Fisher.

One reads: “Good old fish face. He lives behind the Novotel in Reading if anyone’s wondering. Pop down for a cup of tea and some fun science facts.”

An application to save photos of school trips and family members from Fisher's computer was quashed by the judge, who ordered the device be destroyed.

Fisher was convicted at the same court on January 11 of two counts of making indecent images and 15 counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was sentenced to a total 33 months in prison, given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and made to pay costs of £1,000.