Teacher says sex assault accuser is ‘fantasist’

Married Michael Brewer, 67, who was awarded an OBE for services to music, quit the Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester after his affair with a 17-year-old girl was discovered.

Prosecutors at Manchester Crown Court say it was part of a pattern which showed his unhealthy interest in girls in their early and mid-teens while he was the school’s director of music.

Brewer, of Selly Oak, Birmingham, denies eight counts of indecent assault against an underage girl at Chetham’s more than 30 years ago and one allegation of raping her when she was 18 in the presence of his ex-wife, Hilary Kay Brewer, also 67.

Hilary Kay Brewer, of Rossendale, Lancashire, denies one count of indecent assault and aiding and abetting rape.

On the directions of Judge Martin Rudland, the jury has recorded not guilty verdicts on five counts of indecent assault due to insufficient evidence on how old the complainant was at the time.

Yesterday Brewer, prompted to describe the girl by his barrister Kate Blackwell QC, said: “She was vivacious, dynamic, commanding on stage [but] underneath was insecure, depressive, hysterical and a fantasist.”

Brewer denied abusing her in his office, or at his home, and also refuted claims he had got her to perform oral sex on him while he drove his camper van around Manchester.

Last week the woman whose affair led to Brewer’s resignation described to the jury how their relationship progressed – after she turned 17 – from innocent hugs to passionate kisses and fondling of her breasts in his school office and practice rooms.

She told the jury she had felt she was in love with him, and while at the time she did not consider it abuse, she felt differently about it as an adult.

Giving evidence, Brewer confirmed he was in love with her in the autumn term of 1994 and had, on occaasions, asked her to remove her blouse and had touched her breasts.

When contacted by police over the allegations from his rape accuser in 2011, he had, he admitted, minimised the extent of his relationship with the 17-year-old because he was still trying to protect her and she had protected him.

The trial continues.