A former lecturer accused of sexually abusing girls has taken the stand to deny all charges.

Julian Myerscough began giving evidence in his trial at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday.

The 57-year-old, formerly of Lowestoft, denies 11 charges relating to three girls under 13 between 2001 and 2010, including two of rape, four of indecent assault and four of assault by penetration.

When asked by defence barrister Simon Spence if he had "sexually interfered" with any of the alleged victims, Myerscough rose from his seated position to respond: "No, never."

When asked about allegations of physical abuse against one of the girls, Myerscough again responded: "No, no, never."

He later labelled all accusations "impossible" and "fantastic".

Last week, an alleged victim of the former university lecturer told the court she felt unable to disclose accusations when asked about his behaviour a decade ago.

She claimed to have been uninformed about sex and inappropriate behaviour when spoken to following his arrest for possessing indecent images of children on a computer in 2009.

The Bolton-born former law lecturer, who was subsequently convicted of possessing indecent images, sacked from his job at the University of East Anglia and jailed, said the "overwhelming majority" of images found in 2009 were already "hidden" on a computer he acquired from someone else.

He later declared: "As a law lecturer, I have written on the devastating effect on the innocent, and on the guilty, of these offences - even when they're minor - you'll never work again."

He was again convicted of possessing indecent images in 2015, when he walked out of Ipswich Crown Court while the jury retired to consider its verdict.

He was detained two days later, in Dublin, under a European Arrest Warrant, but was later released from Irish jail by the High Court and fled to Romania, from where he was eventually brought back on a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of current allegations the following August.

Myerscough said he was sexually abused and beaten by other inmates for almost two weeks while awaiting extradition in a Romanian jail.

"I'm not saying I'm a victim here, but that's just what happened," he added.

The trial continues.