Police arrested Pickett on 4 December 2013, after which further victims came forward. His arrest was not part of the high-profile sex crime investigation Operation Yewtree. It was said at his trial that allegations against Pickett dated back to 1984, when a family complained to the school about him attacking their 17-year-old daughter; they were allegedly told by the school that she should have her lessons elsewhere as no one else had complained. Police discovered evidence within the archives of the school that in 1984 the then principal John Hosier had written to Pickett, asking him to discuss the allegations. Hosier passed police a letter regarding the allegations and his frustrations, but the following year the Guildhall School made Pickett a fellow. On 10 February 2015 Pickett was found guilty of two rapes and two indecent assaults carried out in soundproof rooms at the Guildhall School between 1979 and 1983. After his conviction, Pickett’s defence team tried to delay sentencing to accommodate Pickett’s commitment to arrange three music festivals. Judge Charles Wide sentenced Pickett on 20 February 2015 to a total of 11 years, and ordered that two further indictments in relation to allegations by two women dating back to the 1970s lie on file. Pickett was cleared of six further counts of indecent assault.