A FORMER teacher and choirmaster has admitted a series of sexual offences which spanned more than four decades.

David Pickthall had been charged with nearly 40 offences and appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Essex Police's investigation related to offences against 19 people between 1980 and 2021 in Brentwood and Upminster.

At court, these offences were condensed into 29 offences, which still encompass all the offending and all the victims.

Pickthall then admitted:

  • 16 counts of indecent assault;
  • 10 counts of voyeurism;
  • Three counts of making an indecent image of a child.

The 65 year-old, from Cheveley Park, Cheveley, Suffolk, was working as a choirmaster in the borough of Havering and a teacher in Brentwood during some of this time period.

He is now due to be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on the week commencing 11 November.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Chelsie Stamford said: “I want to praise the strength demonstrated by the victims in this case for coming forward and telling us what happened to them.

“David Pickthall subjected them to an unimaginable ordeal that will stay with them for their whole lives.

“Their evidence has ensured we’ve been able to hold Pickthall accountable for what he has done to them and will face justice.

“Ultimately, he was faced with no option other than to admit his crimes.”