MANCHESTER, United Kingdom – A former supply teacher has been jailed for six years after admitting secretly taking upskirting photographs of teenage pupils across seven schools and using artificial intelligence to create sexualised images of children.
Abusali Rahman, 37, from Salford in Greater Manchester, used an iPhone concealed in his top pocket to take images beneath girls’ clothing while working in schools, Bolton Crown Court heard.
He also followed girls as they walked up staircases to film them and searched their social media profiles to create manipulated images placing their faces alongside pornographic content.
The offences came to light after the mother of one pupil found an image of her daughter in school uniform displayed alongside graphic sexual material on X, formerly Twitter.
The court heard that Rahman had also superimposed one girl’s face onto images of women wearing a bikini and a PVC suit.
Crimes Targeted 15 Girls Across Seven Schools
Rahman’s offending took place over nearly two years, between December 2023 and June 2025, and involved 15 girls aged between 13 and 16 at secondary schools in Bury, Bolton and Salford.
At a hearing in May, he pleaded guilty to 12 counts of taking indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children through upskirting.
He also admitted four counts of publishing an obscene article, three counts of making indecent images of children using AI-generated material, one count of distributing an indecent image of a child and one count of operating equipment beneath another person’s clothing to take images without consent.
One girl whose photograph was manipulated using her social media profile picture received comments at school and told police she felt embarrassed and “weirded out”. Another pupil said she was “disgusted and upset” by what had happened.
Police Warn Of Growing Risks From AI
Detective Constable Lisa McGaffin of Greater Manchester Police described the case as “incredibly worrying”, highlighting the challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence to manipulate images of children.
“Criminals are using it [AI] in ways we didn’t think would ever happen 12 months ago,” she said, adding that tackling the problem was “a very, very difficult” task.
Senior Crown prosecutor Alexandra Mann said Rahman had abused his position as a teacher to take images of children without their knowledge in an environment where they were entitled to feel safe.
She added that creating and sharing sexualised deepfake images of pupils on social media was a “gross breach of trust”.
Police have contacted all the schools where Rahman worked and have been in touch with the children and families they know were affected.
Sky News chief North of England correspondent Greg Milam said investigators believed there could be hundreds of children who had come into contact with Rahman during his offending.
Teacher Banned From Working In Schools For 20 Years
In mitigation, Rahman’s defence lawyer, Emma Kehoe, told the court that he recognised the seriousness of his actions.
“He knows what he did is horrendous,” she said, adding that he had struggled to control his behaviour and had sought help, including speaking to an imam about his thoughts.
Rahman was sentenced to six years in prison. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from working in schools for 20 years.
