A former Suffolk schoolteacher facing 29 charges of indecent assault on children more than 30 years ago pleaded not guilty to all counts yesterday.

69-year-old Gerard Singer, a French national, now lives in Calais but had taught at the now defunct St George’s School in Great Finborough, near Stowmarket. The charges include indecency of a child, indecent assault, buggery and gross indecency between 1979 and 1982 with victims aged from nine-years-old.

Singer appeared before Ipswich Crown Court via video link yesterday, after being extradited back to England in December. St George’s has been at the centre of a police investigation - Operation Racecourse - since 2009. Singer is the fifth teacher to have been arrested.

A trial, expected to take 12 days, has been set for June 22. He has been remanded in custody until trial.