A TEACHING assistant has been found guilty of sexually abusing youngsters at a school in Blackburn.

David Billington, 46, admitted he had been 'over familiar' with the girls, but denied any wrongdoing.

But following a trial at Preston Crown Court in which six girls spoke out against the teaching assistant they called 'Mr B', he was convicted of nine counts of sexually assaulting girls under 13.

During the trial, Billington, of Shadsworth Road, Blackburn, broke down as he told the jury a group of year six pupils had started calling him 'a paedophile'.

He said: “I think when a child has tried to sit on my knee and I’ve pushed them off, that another child has seen that and it has become the chat of the playground, Chinese whispers, and then the children were calling me a paedophile.”

But after hearing accounts from the girls, who were in different year groups and friendship groups, the jury found him guilty of all the charges.

One girl told the court Billington had told her he would be sacked if she told anyone he had kissed her.

Other victims spoke of sitting on his knee or Billington putting his arm around their waist, bottom or hips and pulling them towards him.

Billington was suspended from duties in February 2016 after a mum told the headteacher her daughter did not feel comfortable around the teaching assistant.

Heather McGowan, the headteacher at St Antony’s Primary School, told the court Billington had simply asked if the allegation was made by a parent or child when she explained she would need to send him home.

Another parent had previously mentioned rumours about Billington to his wife during a phone conversation, but Billington said the matter had been dealt with and he did not report it to the school.

He will be sentenced on July 5.