Graham Nichols 77

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A pervert primary school teacher has been jailed for three years for indecently assaulting girls at his school, all aged just eight and nine years old.

At the time of the offences, he put one of his young victims in the dunces corner after the school disbelieved her claims of abuse, a court heard.

Bearded Graham Nichols, 62, indecently assaulted five girls at St Annes Catholic Primary in Keighley, where he taught from the 1970s to 1980.

Prosecutor Judith Naylor yesterday told Bradford Crown Court that two of the girls had complained about his behaviour at the time but the headmistress, a Sister Eugenie, did not believe them and Nichols placed one of them at the dunces table.

Nichols, of Storr Hill, Wyke, Bradford, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to ten charges of indecent assault and one of gross indecency with a child.

He was told by Judge James Stewart QC: You abused your position as a teacher, a position of trust. You were looking after these children who were entitled to look up to you. When one complained, you denied it and had her put in the dunces corner.

A further offence of indecent assault was taken into consideration after another woman came forward, following publicity in the Telegraph & Argus, to say she had been abused by Nichols at St Columbas School in Bradford.

Mrs Naylor said Nichols indecently touched the girls as they stood next to him for reading or to have their work marked.

On one occasion he asked one girl to stay behind at lunchtime. He took her to the book corner, asked her to lie on the floor and expose herself and committed a sex act in front of her.

Nichols left St Annes and became a supply teacher in the Bradford area. The offences came to light many years later when one of the victims was taking a child protection course as she trained to be a nursery nurse and thought about what had happened to her.

When he was arrested Nichols, who had no previous convictions, made admissions to police and said he had committed the offences out of curiosity as his knowledge of girls was very limited.

Michael Reeves, representing Nichols, said he was not a predatory paedophile and was suffering from a personality disorder at the time of the offences.

Judge Stewart said the offences were not the most serious, though the act of gross indecency was nasty.

He ordered that Nichols register as a sex offender indefinitely and made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to stop him having unsupervised contact with children under 16.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Stephen Hanson, of West Yorkshire Polices Child and Public Protection Unit, said: Primary school years are supposed to be the happiest of a persons life, but these women have been traumatised by the actions of Nichols.

We would like to commend the bravery of the ladies who have come forward to help us bring Nichols to justice.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds was asked for a comment by the T&A, but did not respond.