THE head of music at a prestigious private school has appeared before York Crown Court accused of sexual offences against a child.

Sean Ambrose Farrell, 49, who is currently suspended from his job at Wellington College in Berkshire, denied two charges of indecent assault and two of gross indecency.

All four offences are alleged to have been committed against the same schoolboy at the junior school of Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire in the 1980s.

Farrell, of Abbeyfield Court, Riddings Road, Ilkley, will stand trial on November 27 at the same crown court and he was released on bail until then on condition he has no unsupervised contact with children and keeps the police informed of his address.