A WREXHAM teacher has admitted possessing more than 8,000 indecent photographs of children.

Kieran Vincent Maye, 34, of York Close, Abenbury, has been suspended from his job teaching maths at  Ysgol Clywedog since June after the images were found by his girlfriend, a fellow teacher.

At Wrexham Magistrates’ Court yesterday he admitted 16 charges of downloading indecent photographs of young girls aged between four and 11 years old, and possessing a further 8,487 indecent images of children.

The images ranged on a scale set by the Protection of Children Act from the least serious, level one, to the most serious, level five.

Andrew Warman, prosecuting, said: “The defendant’s partner was in a relationship with him. The situation was they were both teachers. They lived in separate houses but had access to each other’s houses. She had access to his computer.

“At the end of May he was on a school trip to Barcelona. When she used his computer she was able by accident to find the photos which were of an inappropriate nature. The police were then contacted.”

Of the images discovered, the vast majority were at level one, with 86 at level two, 195 at level three, 156 at level four and 33 at level five.

Ceri Evans, defending, said: “There is obviously a high volume – the vast majority, over 8,000, relate to level one.

“This is not a case where we are looking at any kind of distribution.

“The other point I would make would be in response to any suggestion there were other photos kept. All images are simply from the internet and pornography websites.”

Magistrates agreed that, given some of the images were at level four and five, Maye should be sentenced at crown court.

He will appear before a judge in Mold on September 16 and was given conditional bail until then.

A spokesman for Wrexham Council said: “The school and the local authority confirm that a member of staff has been suspended from work since June 2010 pending a police investigation.

“This investigation does not relate to an incident at Ysgol Clywedog.

“As this issue will need to be dealt with as a confidential employment matter we are unable to comment further.”