Mr Mulcahy was found not guilty on all three counts on January 21, 2022.

A GIRL allegedly sexually assaulted by a teacher at a Bournemouth private school spent more than a year at a mental health inpatient centre following the reported incidents, a court heard.

Philip Mulcahy, 58, is currently standing trial accused of touching the girl almost a dozen times in two years while at the £15,000 a year Bournemouth Collegiate School.

He is said to have made her stay to ‘discuss’ her work before touching her.

On other occasions the student described how he touched her under her bra and another accusation relates to a school trip.

Giving evidence at the hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court on Wednesday, January 12, the complainant’s father told how the girl became “withdrawn” and would spend a lot of time on her own.

Her father said they booked an appointment with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service after a referral from the girl’s GP.

Following a second visit to hospital, the girl, who was aged between 12 and 14 at the time of the alleged assaults, was taken to a Bournemouth mental health inpatient centre after self-harming and experiencing suicidal thoughts.

The father spoke of a parents evening he attended with Mulcahy. The defendant didn’t recall this meeting.

Jurors later heard how former deputy headteacher at the school, Alison Davies, described the alleged use of a room as “audacious”.

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Mary Aspinall-Miles, Ms Davies said the room was in a “very busy” part of the school.

Mulcahy denies the allegations. The trial continues.