THREE children who claimed their teacher had sexually assaulted them were quizzed by police to see if they had made up the tale after copying an EastEnders storyline.

Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday that the BBC television soap had a storyline in which character Nicky di Marco made an accusation against a tutor.

Deborah Sherwin, prosecuting, told the jury that Detective Constable Graeme Riley wanted to ensure that the two 12-year-olds and one 13 were making genuine and not copycat claims.

Miss Sherwin said: "Two of them did not have much idea what the police officer was talking about.

"The second 12-year-old had some idea but she did not know all the details. She said that it was totally irrelevant and that this was something that had happened and was not something made up."

Peter Hewson, 50, a design technology teacher at a Middlesbrough school, denies three charges of indecent assault.

The father-of-four, of Church Close, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, is charged with indecently assaulting the 13-year-old in June last year, and the 12-year-olds between June and July.

Miss Sherwin told the court: "While police were carrying out their inquiries, one of the matters that came to their attention was a storyline in EastEnders where a girl accused a tutor over something said to have taken place.

"The officer thought it right to find out from each of the girls whether they were aware of this storyline so that they could assess whether this was something that they had picked up, or something that had genuinely happened to them."

When Mr Hewson was arrested in July, he denied any incidents had taken place.

The allegations came to light after the older girl complained to her mother.

Miss Sherwin said: "The allegations are that the defendant abused his position to either abuse these girls because he teaches them, or because he came into contact with them during the day."

The trial continues