A TEACHER has been cleared of sex assaults on pupils at the end of a five-day trial.

William Hughes, who taught in Redditch after being made redundant from his manager's job at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, insisted he was the victim of school "tittle-tattle".

A jury at Worcester Crown Court rejected claims by three seven-year-olds that he fondled them during lessons.

Mr Hughes, aged 48, of Fox Lane, Rock Hill, Bromsgrove, was found not guilty of five counts of indecent assault. The jury took two hours to pass unanimous verdicts.

The defendant, married with a daughter, was arrested on March 27 last year after a girl complained to her mother that he put his hand up her dress as she stood by his desk.

He was then told he would not be prosecuted - but was re-arrested after another girl and a boy made allegations.

Mr Hughes called the complaints "preposterous" and told police his teaching area was very visible to other classrooms and he never knew who would walk in next. None of the other pupils saw any misbehaviour.

The defendant had taught at Millfields school in Bromsgrove before moving to Redditch in September 2001.

Defence counsel Peter Haynes said there was gossip about Mr Hughes in his class, which was reinforced when his accusers attended the same birthday party.

He claimed the children became caught up in a vortex of youthful fantasy and had told lies as a way of belonging to a gang.

He described Mr Hughes as a man of the utmost integrity who was reliable and trustworthy.