Music teacher's life ban follows conviction over child sex images

A MUSIC teacher has been banned from teaching for life after his sinister crimes were revealed.

- By JOSHUA HARTLEY

Mark Bates, 43, had been a franchise owner with West Bridgford based music educational provider MLC Group since 2016, teaching his students how to play the drums. However, on April 20, 2023, the teacher was arrested at his home by police, who uncovered a disturbing secret after seizing his laptop and a USB stick.

On the laptop officers found one indecent image of children that was so appalling it fell into Category A - the worst kind of abuse images under the law. On his USB they found 2,606 more, as well as 2,585 Category B indecent images and 1,600 Category C indecent images. Some of the girls in the images were as young as five, a recent hearing over whether to ban him from teaching was told.