Teacher planned to buy 14,000 newpapers to cover up child porn rap

A colleague of a head teacher arrested for child pornography tried to cover up the case by having every copy of a local newspaper bought.

The teacher, apparently acting on her own initiative, asked a caretaker to buy every East Lothian Courier in circulation to spare Andrew Melville any embarassment.

The audacious plan would have cost almost £7,000 since the newspaper has a circulation of around 14,000 and a cover price of 45p.

Melville, 48, was later sacked from his post at Whitecraig primary school in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh.

He pleaded guilty in court after police found hundreds of indecent images of children at his home. But he escaped jail and was sentenced to community service at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today.

A spokesman for East Lothian Council said the teacher had asked the janitor to buy the newspapers last March when the story broke. The council viewed the attempt as "extremely regrettable", he added.

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