A supply teacher allegedly abused six primary school pupils after a recruitment agency failed to disclose he had previously been charged with child sexual assault, a court has heard.

Jonathan Clayton’s new employers were unaware of previous claims made against him when he was put forward for the job by Visions for Education. The school’s headteacher said she was “shocked and horrified” when the previous unproven allegations came to light at an emergency safeguarding meeting.

Clayton, 27, of Stockton-on-Tees, denies 13 counts of sexually assaulting six girls aged between seven and 11 over a six-week period in April and May last year.

Police were told that at his previous school, the defendant “fixated” on certain girls, making excuses to touch and cuddle them and bounce them on his knee. He was alleged to have put his hand up the skirt of an eight-year-old girl in the presence of a teaching assistant and other pupils between September 2016 and June 2017.

However, the case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2018 after the girl’s mother made a statement saying she sometimes made up stories for attention. In a police interview Clayton described the girl as “scheming” and dismissed the claims as lies.

Despite the fact the case against him was not pursued, his future employers should have been informed of the accusations by the agency that put him forward for the job, the court heard.

Jurors were told that details leading to his arrest had not been passed on to the second school by Visions for Education, who were responsible for conducting checks on Clayton.

The two schools, which are in different local authority areas in the north of England, cannot be named to protect the identity of the alleged victims.

At the second school, the court heard, the alleged victims had been touched by Clayton while he helped them to dress after PE, even though they had not asked for or needed help. He is also accused of touching the girls as they stood at his desk, leaving one alleged victim feeling “disgusting”.

Clayton claimed he had been a victim of “Chinese whispers” among pupils and staff.

The trial continues at Teesside crown court.