A paedophile primary school teacher was jailed for 11 years today after being found guilty of sexually abusing three boy pupils over a 10-year period.

Peter Shotton, 55, denied abusing the three boys while he was a maths teacher at Bewbush Community Primary School in Crawley, West Sussex, between 1995 and 2005.

But following a nine-day trial in February, he was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault on a child under 13, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and indecency with a child.

Judge Anthony Niblett, sitting at Hove Crown Court, told him he had betrayed the trust placed in him for his own sexual gratification and had shown no remorse.

He told Shotton: "They were in your professional care and you betrayed that trust placed in you as a teacher in the case of each of these three.

"These offences were in my judgment made worse by the fact that the abuse was performed on school premises during the school day when they should have felt secure."

The jury heard one of the boys revealed the abuse to a member of his family in 2005 and confided there was a particular teacher he did not like.

When he was interviewed by police, Shotton said he only knew the boy vaguely and he had been sent to him on one occasion when he had been naughty.

Shotton, of The Twitten, Albourne, near Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, said he was shocked by the allegations and denied being alone with the boy during lunchtimes.

After an article about the teacher appeared in a local newspaper, two other victims came forward separately and independently to report similar allegations.

The jury heard the second boy had told a friend what had happened to him nearly a year before the newspaper article was written.

Likewise, the third boy had told his girlfriend what had happened to him before the story was published.

Shotton was found not guilty of one count of indecency with a child, and the jury could not reach verdicts on a further six counts of indecency with a child.

Judge Niblett told Shotton: "You above all must have known the effects of your actions. You cared nothing for their well-being but for your perverted satisfaction."

The court heard Shotton, who had no previous convictions, had the support of his wife of 28 years and their two adult children. He was disqualified from working with children for life.

Following his conviction, West Sussex County Council said the school "deeply regrets" the case and that as soon as the allegations surfaced, Shotton was not allowed to return to the school.

An investigation was launched by the West Sussex Local Safeguard Children Board to examine whether lessons could be learned from the case, the council added.

In a statement, Shotton's wife, Liz Shotton, said: "My husband and I categorically deplore and condemn abuse of any kind while confidently assuring you that you would find nobody less capable of committing the terrible crimes for which he has been imprisoned than Peter.

"I am shocked that this has happened after a trial in which there was not a single piece of independent evidence. We will of course continue our fight to establish his innocence."

She added that false accusations against teachers, particularly men, have become a regular occurrence.

"I am sure you would want to ask me if I am in denial - my answer to that is you can not live intimately with somebody for 27 years and not know his every inclination.

"Peter is innocent and I am unbelievably proud of him, of the dignified way he has dealt with these lies and his total lack of bitterness for all concerned. He has been a brilliant teacher and is a wonderful husband, father and friend."