The deputy headteacher of a Midland school has admitted child abduction charges.

Brian Knowles, 57, of Beechmore Road, Sheldon, was accused of taking a 15-year-old out for meals without her parents’ consent and sending inappropriate text messages.

He taught at Barr’s Hill School in Radford, Coventry, and appeared at the city’s Crown Court to face four counts of abducting a child.

The court heard Knowles had since resigned and planned to move out of the area.

He was suspended from the school after his arrest earlier this year.

He had been the Radford Road school’s staff lead on child protection at the time of the alleged offences. The role involved having regular meetings with police.

The charges were for “detaining a child so as to keep them from a person having lawful control” under the Child Abduction Act 1984.

The prosecution alleged he took the teenage girl out for meals at fast food restaurants in Coventry unsupervised and without her parents’ knowledge.

Heidi Kubik, defending, revealed Knowles was in the process of moving house.

It came during confusion over his listed address in his application for bail.

Knowles was granted bail with the conditions that he had no contact with the victim or witnesses and had no unsupervised contact with anyone under 16.

Discussing legal concerns over whether the media should be allowed to publish full details of Knowles’ employment, Recorder Roger Evans said: “There is a clear public interest in this case.”

He added: “I’m not going to sentence a case of this particularly difficult variety without a full pre-sentence report.”

He adjourned the case until later this month.