A TEACHER at a North-East special school unwittingly made legal history yesterday when he was successfully sued for libellous comments made on an Internet site.

Jonathan Spencer posted remarks about former teacher Jim Murray, 68, on the Friends Reunited site, falsely claiming Mr Murray had been sacked after making rude remarks about girls and strangling a pupil.

But the popular website was forced to hurriedly remove the comments when horrified Mr Murray revealed he had simply retired from the job.

Yesterday, he was awarded £1,250 in damages, the first person in Britain to win a pay-out over libellous remarks made in the course of a "virtual conversation".

Speaking after a hearing at Lincoln County Court, Mr Murray said: "It is character assassination, and I am afraid Friends Reunited is much to blame. It is giving immature young people the chance to have a go."

Mr Murray, who taught at Ridgewood Comprehensive, Doncaster, until 1983, told the court: "To be abused and have your character assassinated in this way is not acceptable. I can see no reason why this man should have done this."

Mr Spencer - now a teacher himself - admitted his comments constituted a libel but claimed the amount of damages should be nominal.

He said he had since learned Friends Reunited had only carried the insults for a day and they would have been seen by very few people.

Addressing Mr Murray, he said: "It was a virtual conversation between ex-pupils. With hindsight, it was a stupid remark."

Mr Spencer, who teaches at a special school in Gateshead, Tyneside, added: "I didn't join Friends Reunited to assassinate your character."

Ordering him to pay £1,250 damages and £150 costs, District Judge Andrew Maw said the libel could not he described as "jocular".

Seaking after the bearing, Mr Murray, who now lives in Lincolnshire, said he was disappointed with the award, which he said was "peanuts".

"I have dedicated 32-years to education, and if my reputation is only worth £1,250 then that it is pathetic," he said.

Mr Murray said he would also make a complaint to teachers' union NASUWT, of which he is still a member, and seek disciplinary action against Mr Spencer.

Asked if he thought his former pupil should lose his job, he said: "I would have thought so. In my day you would have been drummed out."

Mr Spencer, who is his 30s, refused to comment.