David Pickthall Jailed for 12 Years for Child Sex Offences

A former teacher and choirmaster who also worked on TV and film projects has been jailed for 12 years for child sex offences.

David Pickthall, 66, of Ingrave Road, Brentwood, Essex, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court after admitting to 29 child sex offences concerning 19 people spanning over 40 years. The crimes were committed between 1980 and 2021 in Brentwood, Essex and Upminster, east London.

Pickthall was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2015 for his services to education and charity. He had also worked on a number of TV and film projects, including the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later and as the "musical voice" of villainous penguin Feathers McGraw in the 1993 short film Wallace And Gromit: The Wrong Trousers.

Judge Mary Loram KC told Pickthall: "You are without a shadow of a doubt a predatory and manipulative paedophile who has adapted his offending over the years. If you hadn't been arrested, you would have carried on." Pickthall was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with a four-year extended licence period, and also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order.