A TEACHER accused of sexually abusing a pupil at an Oxford school told jurors he had acted 'inappropriately' but there was no sexual contact.

Simon Barnes, of Burton-upon-Stather, Scunthorpe, denies five counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child.

The charges are in connection with alleged abuse carried out at Oxford's Cheney School in the 1980s.

As his trial at Oxford Crown Court continued yesterday the 59-year old Oxford University alumni took to the witness box and said his relationship with the girl had been purely innocent.

He told the jury of six men and six women: "She was enthusiastic, she was friendly, she was bubbly, she was keen, and she seemed to want attention.

"She didn't seem to have a large number of friends, she was a little bit isolated.

"I tried to use humour and was always open and friendly, I tried to talk to students and I tried to get to know them because teaching isn't just about teaching its about relationships."

He told jurors that she had formed an attachment to him and said she would 'follow him about like a little dog'.

Barnes said that on occasion he would give her hugs and 'a peck on the cheek' but only to comfort and support her, and later admitted to police under interview that he had 'acted inappropriately.'

He added that the culture of teaching and interacting with pupils was different in the 1980s than it was now now and that it was a more 'relaxed' atmosphere with less training.

Prosecutors meanwhile maintain that the girl who cannot be named for legal reasons was sexually assaulted by Barnes in school corridors and at the library.

They allege that the teacher, who left the school in the Summer of 1988; a year after the alleged abuse had stopped, would engage in sex acts at his Kennington home as well as at the school.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial the alleged victim said that during their five-month 'relationship' Barnes plied her with gifts of necklaces and took her to watch Oxford United football matches.

She said: "It started off with kissing and fondling over clothes but very soon that moved to more intimate things.

"He made me feel different, he definitely treated me differently to other pupils, by talking to me and then winking at me when he saw me around the school.

"I was besotted with him, I was [young], I was naive."

Barnes, who studied English and English Literature at Oxford University, first started teaching at Cheney School in 1981 before moving to Icknield School, Watlington, in 1988.

He then relocated to a school at Bletchley, near Milton Keynes between 1993 and 2002 before another in Scunthorpe where he assumed the role of deputy head teacher at Thomas Sumpter School.

The trial continues.