A TEACHER from York who worked at a top private school has gone on trial accused of rape and indecent assault.

James Husband, who taught history at Christ's Hospital School in the 1990s, is alleged to have told head of house Gary Dobbie about the encounter.

Dobbie later joked with the girl, indicating he knew what had happened, jurors were told.

She reported Husband to the Horsham school's chaplain but no action was taken. Even her mother did not believe her story, Hove Crown Court heard.

The pair, who both worked at the prestigious West Sussex school and lived in the grounds, are standing trial after denying sexually abusing eight pupils over the course of 13 years.

Eloise Marshall, prosecuting, told the court victims believed the teachers would "laugh" together about their exploits.

Husband, 68, of Wigginton in York, denies four counts of rape and five of indecently assaulting a girl as young as 14 between 1990 and 1994. He claims they had "consensual sex" once when she was 16.

He left the school after it emerged he was having a consensual affair with a different pupil who was not underage and not a complainant in the case, Ms Marshall said.

The girl's diary entries suggested they had sex in Husband's study - which is where he is accused of abusing his alleged victim, the court heard.

Dobbie, of Albi in France and formerly of Hereford, faces a string of allegations against six boys and two girls as young as 12 between 1998 and 2001.

He denies 12 counts of indecently assaulting four boys and two girls, attempting to indecently assault a boy and two counts of indecency with a child.

The 66-year-old was teaching at independent Shrewsbury School, Shropshire, at the time of his arrest in 2016.

Ms Marshall said: "Both the men knew each other and there is some evidence to suggest that they discussed what they were doing."

It became so frequent she began to "hate" what was happening, was "disgusted with herself", Ms Marshall said.

Dobbie "groomed" pupils, by hosting dinner parties at his house in the school grounds with "favourite" students, jurors were told. He would allegedly ply them with whisky and wine while talking about their sexual encounters was "encouraged".

At one of the gatherings an alleged victim recalls a man who also attended as a guest rating the boys in order of their attractiveness, to Dobbie's "delight", Ms Marshall said.

On another occasion after giving a girl alcohol, she came out of the bathroom to find Dobbie had undone his trousers and was "grinning at her", the court heard. Fearing he wanted to have sex, she left the property.

She told her mother after she moved on from the school who phoned housemaster Neil Flemming but no action was taken, Ms Marshall said.

When questioned by police, Dobbie branded the claims "totally untrue".

The trial heard how the teacher even helped raise money for another pupil - allegedly abused over a period of six years - to take a gap year after leaving school but assaulted him when he returned for a visit, the court heard.

Founded in the 16th century, Christ's Hospital charges boarders up to £31,500 a year and counts Sir Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb, and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge as alumni.

Pupils still wear a Tudor-style uniform consisting of a long blue coat and high yellow socks.

The trial, expected to last six weeks, continues.