ELMSWELL EX-HEADTEACHER MATTHEW COOMBS CAUGHT IN SEXUAL PLOT WITH UNDERCOVER OFFICER IN IPSWICH

In a disturbing case that has sent shockwaves through the local community, Matthew Coombs, a former headteacher from Elmswell, was found to have engaged in inappropriate online communications with an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. The incident unfolded over a span of ten days, during which Coombs exchanged messages with an undercover officer posing as a teenage boy on the popular dating app Grindr.

According to court proceedings held at Ipswich Crown Court, Coombs had arranged to meet the decoy at Cineworld in Ipswich, a plan that was thwarted when police arrested him at his residence before the meeting could take place. Prosecutor David Ryan detailed that between February 10 and 20, 2020, the decoy made it explicitly clear that he was only 14 years old. Despite this, Coombs engaged in conversations that included sexual topics and even sent a sexually explicit image depicting a naked man.

Further investigation revealed that Coombs had conducted an online search to determine whether police monitored Grindr activity, indicating a level of awareness about potential surveillance. During his arrest, Coombs reportedly told officers that he had nothing to hide and questioned whether ignorance of the boy’s age could serve as a legal defense. When questioned by police, he read a prepared statement in which he admitted to communicating with a male he believed to be over 16, and acknowledged that there was a discussion about meeting up, though he claimed he would not have followed through with it.

When confronted with chat logs revealing the decoy’s age as 14, Coombs claimed he had not seen those messages. Throughout the proceedings, he denied any sexual attraction to children, asserting that he had no inappropriate intentions towards students at the school where he previously served as headteacher.

In sentencing, Judge Nicola Talbot-Hadley described Coombs’s life prior to the incident as “law abiding and constructive,” but condemned the offence as “horrible.” She emphasized that Coombs was fortunate the individual he was communicating with was an undercover officer and not a real child. The court sentenced him to a two-year community order, including a 35-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 150 hours of unpaid work. Additionally, Coombs was placed under a sexual harm prevention order for five years and ordered to register as a sex offender for the same duration.

Representing Coombs, Natasha Nair, stated that his career as a headteacher was effectively over and that he had since taken up a cleaning job. The case has raised serious concerns about safeguarding and the potential risks posed by individuals in positions of authority within the community.