AN "outstanding" teacher who was found guilty of assaulting a pupil spoke last night of his relief after his conviction was quashed.

David Colin Rucker said he had been through 19 months of hell after a court ruling was overturned yesterday with an apology from a judge for his ordeal.

The 41-year-old father-of-two had been a model teacher until he remonstrated with misbehaving youths at a North Yorkshire swimming pool, and found himself facing a police investigation.

He told how after his conviction for assault last October:

* He was forced to quit his job and support his family on £50 a week;

* He ran up thousands of pounds of debt trying to clear his name;

* He had to pay his legal costs with money given to his wife to pay for treatment after a car accident;

* He felt abandoned by his union when he needed help the most.

Mr Rucker, a teacher with 15 years experience, was described as an outstanding tutor by Ofsted inspectors shortly before his nightmare began.

During the trial at Northallerton Magistrates' Court last year, the bench was told how trouble began when Mr Rucker was spotted by four youths as he relaxed at Richmond swimming pool.

The teenagers challenged him to a race. When the teacher won, they splashed him with water - which led to an altercation.

The court heard how Mr Rucker had been the fourth teacher at his school to have been accused of wrong-doing by children in the same year group.

Magistrates were also told that the school had expressed concerns about the racist attitude of one of the youths, and that he had been involved in a burglary.

After Mr Rucker was convicted of common assault at the end of the three-day trial, a parent of one of the youths expressed sympathy for his situation, saying: "I do feel bad for him. Terribly. Of course I do."

During yesterday's hearing at Teesside Crown Court, Mr Rucker's barrister, Deborah Sherwin, described the case as "unusual".

She said: "It's a strange case - curious that it was ever brought in the first place.

"He was a teacher who was off duty at a swimming pool and saw some boys had been misbehaving.

"There was some sort of altercation, which ended up with him being convicted of common assault. I want to ask that the conviction is annulled."

Because the case was not contested, a retrial was not required.

In quashing the conviction, the court recorder said: "We obviously allow the appeal. I am sorry, Mr Rucker, that you have been through all this."

Speaking afterwards, Mr Rucker said: "At last justice has been done. I did not do what I was accused of.

"The past 19 months have been an absolute nightmare and I'm relieved this is finally over.

"What has happened to me is commonplace in the teaching trade. There are numerous teachers who have been in my position.

"There is a serious lack of support when subjected to false allegations. We want to get on to the business of rebuilding out lives.

"I now want to start getting back into teaching where I have spent the past 15 years training and working."

Since September 2006, he has lived on about £50 a week after he was forced to leave his job when it had become "untenable" because of the allegations.

He has incurred considerable costs in fighting to clear his name - an estimated £6,000 or £7,000.

The only way he could meet the costs was to use money given to his wife to pay for life-long treatment after she was involved in a car accident.

Mr Rucker claimed he received no support from his teaching union when he needed its help.

A spokeswoman from the National Union of Teachers said: "We constantly monitor the situation to ensure teachers, when innocent, do not become the victims."

The Northern Echo understands that Mr Rucker made a complaint against North Yorkshire Police about the conduct of two officers handling his case. A report in support of the complaint was delivered yesterday.