A TEACHER yesterday described his terror at being told that police could arrest him at any moment after he was suspended from school over allegations that he touched pupils in a sexual manner.

Neil Francis also said claims he had intimately touched a girl were “absolutely preposterous”.

The 33-year-old, of Castlemartin, Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton, denies eight counts of sexual assault against three girls aged under 13.

Yesterday, he told Teesside Crown Court how the headteacher at the North Yorkshire primary school said a serious allegation had been made against him.

After being sent home for the day, he was later called by the chair of governors to attend a meeting at the school, where he was suspended.

“I had absolutely no idea what was going on,” he said.

“I was only told I was being suspended immediately on full pay and that the police were involved.”

He attended further meetings but was only warned that the police could arrest him at any time – a prospect he described as “absolutely terrifying”.

Describing the subsequent months, he said: “I was living with the sort of dread that at any moment the police could come and barge into the house.”

Mr Francis said his suspension from school and the subsequent investigation had been stressful for him and his family.

He said that after waiting 12 months to hear the allegations against him, when he was finally arrested and interviewed by the police it was a “terrifying experience”.

He denied ever rubbing or stroking a child in a sexual manner, as alleged, because that would be inappropriate and unprofessional.

He said: “I took my job as a teacher professionally. I was there to be a role model to the children.”

He also said he had no recollection that he “caressed” a child’s neck and shoulders during a school hall talk.