A MUSIC teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting nine girls and for possessing a paedophile handbook.

Nicholas Fisher, from Bartestree, has also been charged with possessing indecent images.

The 43-year-old had already been remanded in custody when he appeared at Hereford Magistrates Court last Thursday charged with 11 sexual offences relating to nine girls.

Nine charges of assaulting a girl under the age of 13 were put to him relating to various time periods between May 2004 and July 2014, in which he is accused of intentionally sexually touching the girls.

There was also one count of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 between September 2000 and April 2004.

And he is facing a further charge of engaging in non penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15 between July 2011 and July 2014, where the charge reads that Fisher is accused of intentionally sexually touching a girl.

No plea was indicated to these 11 charges and he will next appear at Worcester Crown Court for a Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing on July 17.

Fisher is due to stand trial at Worcester Crown Court on July 24 following two magistrates hearings earlier this year.

In February he gave a not guilty plea to possessing a paedophile handbook on an electronic device.

At an earlier hearing he entered not guilty pleas to possessing images containing still and moving category A,B and C images.

Fisher had been a music teacher in primary and secondary schools for the last 20 years.

He also ran his own music school, teaching music to groups and on a one-to-one basis, and had a music shop on Commercial Road in Hereford. He was again remanded in custody following last week’s hearing.