A MUSIC teacher from Elderslie sexually assaulted a pupil in a cupboard and then drove her home because she missed the school bus, a court has heard.

The alleged victim, now aged 54, said she was a pupil at a school in East Renfrewshire from third to sixth year and music was one of her chosen subjects.

She claimed that, during her time there, teacher William Wright attacked her in a school cupboard.

Jurors heard she wept after he left the cupboard and told her not to come out for a couple of minutes.

The woman also said he repeatedly put his fingers inside her shirt and underwear, as well as putting her hand in his pocket to feel his private parts.

She gave evidence at the High Court in Glasgow today, where Wright is on trial for a string of sex offences.

He faces three charges of using lewd and libidinous practises and three charges of indecent assault between August 1974 and June 1987.

Five charges relate to the school and one alleges an incident took place at a golf course in the area.

During evidence, the woman fought back tears as she said she had been “too afraid” to speak up about what was happening to her.

She told advocate depute Sheena Fraser: “I was terrified of him. He was a man who had a temper and I just didn't put up any objection.

“I felt at the time, I was 13, 14 years of age, at this stage decided I wanted to do music when I left school – I needed him.

“There was nobody to go to, it was only him. There was nobody else you could do your music lessons with.”

The woman added: “It sounds ridiculous as a 54-year-old woman standing here saying this to you all. At the time, I felt if I made an objection or said anything, that would impact on that because I needed to get through my exams with this man."

Jurors heard Wright often put his fingers into the then-teenager's shirt and her underwear while in a sound-proofed practice room.

She also described incidents alleged to have taken place as she sat at a piano in the room, sometimes when other pupils were sitting at the other side of it.

The woman said: “He would on occasion take my hand and put it in his pocket.”

She told of an alleged incident in sixth year at school when Wright took her into a cupboard.

“He took me into the music cupboard," said the woman. "He locked us both in and then pushed me down on the floor.”

The witness claimed Wright then attacked her and told her “not to come out for a couple of minutes.”

She told jurors: “I had been crying in the cupboard and I was leaving the department. He caught up with me and said he would give me a lift home because I had missed the school bus.”

The woman said that, when Wright dropped her off, he said 'See you tomorrow.'

Mrs Fraser asked when the other incidents she had described came to an end.

The woman replied: “Pretty much after that episode in the cupboard.”

Wright denies the charges and the trial continues.