A retired English teacher and rugby coach has been jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing 19 pupils at an independent school in North Yorkshire.

Peter Andrew Holmes, of King Street, Bristol, assaulted his victims between the 1970s and 1990s, when he taught at the former Malsis School in Glusburn.

He was convicted of 28 offences which included multiple counts of indecent assault and indecency with a child.

The 73-year-old was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Friday.

The jury could not decide on five charges but the complainant decided not to pursue a retrial.

Holmes was convicted following a six-week trial in April and May this year. He was ordered to sign the sex offenders register and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the rest of his life.

Malsis School was based at Malsis Hall, near Crosshills, and was an independent preparatory school until its closure in 2014.

There have been other complaints of sexual abuse at the school, as North Yorkshire Police investigated 74-year-old music teacher David John Hope, who is now serving a 17-year prison sentence for raping a boy in the 1980s.