A FORMER schoolmaster has been jailed for five-and-a-half years after being convicted of abusing a young boy.

The offences were committed by Sir Peter Newson-Smith, who is the 3rd Baronet of Totteridge in Hertfordshire, in the 1980s when he was a music teacher at Clayesmore Preparatory School in Blandford.

The 66-year-old was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault of a child under 16 following a four-day trial at Dorchester Crown Court.

The jury spent nearly a day deliberating before returning unanimous guilty verdicts on both counts.

The victim had told jurors at the trial how Newson-Smith had told him he wanted to perform an ‘experiment’ before indecently assaulting him.

He added that he was abused by the defendant on around ten to 15 occasions.

The victim said he had not told anyone at the time because he was embarrassed.

He said he had hidden events away in the back of his mind for more than 20 years but they had affected the rest of his life.

Following the conviction Robin Leach, representing Newson-Smith, said his client was a man of previous good character and had not been the subject of any more allegations in the decades since the offences.

He said Newson-Smith, of Burton Street, Marnhull, who had been well respected as a teacher who supported his local community and was a 'very good family man'.

Mr Leach said the accusations had been 'hanging over' the defendants head since he was first interviewed in May 2011.

He added: “You cannot underestimate the impact of these convictions on him and his family.

“The whole proceedings have been a great shock to everyone.”

Judge Roger Jarvis told Newson-Smith: “You are the sort of person who really should have known better than to behave in the way that you behaved towards that young boy.”

Newson-Smith was sentenced to four years in prison on the first charge of indecent assault and five-and-a-half years for the second, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for life and made subject to a sexual offences prevention order for an indefinite period.