Curtis Clarke

Curtis Clarke, a 39-year-old former secondary school teacher from north Cumbria, has been jailed for 29 months at Carlisle Crown Court for committing voyeurism and revenge porn offences against a woman he was involved with.

The court heard that Clarke secretly recorded four separate videos of their sexual encounters using his phone, without the woman's knowledge or consent. This voyeuristic behaviour came to light when Clarke sought to humiliate her after she repeatedly tried to cut off contact with him. He printed screenshot images from one of the videos, including her name, address, and phone number, along with grotesque descriptions that appeared to advertise her for sexual favours. These posters were placed in prominent public locations: on the wall of a busy Carlisle pub toilet just days before Christmas and at a bus stop on a main city route.

Prosecutor Tim Evans described Clarke as 'highly controlling and narcissistic' during the sentencing hearing on 13 September 2024. Following Clarke's arrest, police recovered the voyeurism videos from a storage device and found his fingerprints on the pub toilet poster. CCTV footage also captured him in the area. Clarke admitted to two counts of revenge porn but denied four counts of voyeurism, for which he was convicted by a jury after a trial.

• Clarke had requested intimate images from the woman, which she refused.
• During the trial, sensitively edited footage was initially used to spare the victim further distress, but one uncensored video was played in open court to counter Clarke's false claims.
• A News & Star investigation revealed Clarke had been advertising as a self-employed McKenzie friend, providing paid support in family court cases.

In a powerful victim impact statement, the woman detailed the 'overwhelming damage' caused by Clarke's actions, stating: 'The whole incident has been devastating for me. I have gone through such a rollercoaster of emotions which I’m still on.' She described the terror of receiving calls from strangers who had seen the posters, noting: 'I had strangers calling me and teasing me over two nights. Each phone call resurfaced the devastation. For nights I just sat on the couch waiting for my phone to ring.' Even after the posters were removed, they continued to circulate via photographs, turning her mobile phone into a source of threat.

Clarke wrote a letter of apology, which the woman dismissed as 'insulting' and manipulative. Character references portrayed a positive side to him, but the prosecutor highlighted the 'Jekyll and Hyde' nature that made him dangerous. Defence barrister Ben Berkson noted Clarke's suspension and dismissal from teaching, a career he had devoted himself to, including charity work and plans for a youth club. Clarke, who had moved from Carlisle to Grovebury Farm Close in Leighton Buzzard and become the primary carer for a three-month-old child, expressed shame over his actions.

Judge Nicholas Barker sentenced Clarke to an immediate 29-month custodial term, describing him as 'self-serving, highly controlling and narcissistic' and 'manipulative and exploitative'. Of the revenge porn posters, the judge said: 'It was calculated, it was deeply malicious and it was designed by you to be vindictive and to have lasting impact on her — and it is clear that it did.' The case was investigated by Cumbria Constabulary.