TWO women broke nearly 30 years of silence about their child sex abuse when they found their alleged tormentor had become a school governor, a court was told yesterday.

They went to the police after reading a letter published in a newspaper from Norman Guffick, describing himself as a governor of Rossmere Primary School, in Hartlepool.

Mr Guffick, 58, is on trial at Teesside Crown Court on three charges of indecently assaulting two girls under ten in the mid- 1970s and mid-1980s.

One woman told the jury that when she saw the letter, she discussed her concern with her sister. The second woman, not related, came forward after police began their investigations. Neither was linked to the school, said Shaun Dodds, prosecuting.

Mr Guffick, of Bonmore Road, Hartlepool, was arrested on January 17 . He denies any sexual impropriety and pleads not guilty to the charges of three indecent assault between May 1974 and July 1981.

The case continues.