A PRIEST is to appear at crown court charged with sex assaults on girls.

Patrick Fitzpatrick, was committed to Teesside Crown Court for a plea and directions hearing during a brief appearance at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court yesterday.

He will appear at the Crown Court on Thursday, February 5.

The 75-year-old, of Holycross Home, Etrrick Grove, Sunderland, has been charged with five counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 and two counts of indecency with a girl.

The offences are said to have taken place between June 1964 and March 1966.

Father Fitzpatrick, who used to teach at St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic School for Boys, in Hartlepool, was granted unconditional bail by the court