A teacher who sexually assaulted a pupil has been released from prison after having his sentence reduced.

Geoffrey Cassidy, 55, from Lytham, lost his job at Rossall School when he was given a nine-month jail term in January.

He admitted five counts of sexual assault, committed 30 years earlier when he befriended a 15-year-old girl at a school in Sheffield.

Last Friday, the Criminal Appeal Court ruled that the sentence was excessive and replaced it with a suspended sentence of the same length.

At the time of his arrest he was director of music at the Fleetwood school.

Cassidy will remain on the sex offenders' list for ten years.