A TEACHER from a private school in Inverclyde has appeared in court accused of a 10-year campaign of child sex abuse.

The Crown says Gordon Walker, who is thought by many to be the best solo piper in the world, repeatedly abused seven children when they were aged between 10 and 17.

Walker, 51, is said to have abused six girls and a boy by touching them inappropriately, quizzing them on their relationships, telling them jokes of a sexual nature and forcing a boy to smoke from a vaporiser he had shoved in his mouth.

He is understood to be suspended from his job at St Columba's School, in Kilmacolm, which has annual fees of more than £12,000, as a result of the allegations.

Walker - who was commissioned to compose a pipe march to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 - made his first public court appearance in connection with his alleged sex assaults on the children yesterday.

Prosecutors claim he repeatedly abused the youngsters between 2007 and 2017 at an address in Renfrewshire, and he faces a total of 19 charges.

He is said to have used 'lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour' towards a girl on various occasions when she was aged 10 and 11, by repeatedly touching her body, repeatedly asking her about her underwear, commenting on her breasts, repeatedly quizzing her on her relationships with boys and telling her sexual jokes.

He faces a second charge of 'lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour' towards her by acting in the same way towards her when she was aged 12 and 13, and a third charge of sexually assaulting her by behaving in the same way when she was aged 13 and 14.

He also faces three charges in relation to his second alleged victim, who he is said to have abused between 2007 and 2015 by repeatedly tickling her, repeatedly asking her about her underwear, commenting on her breasts, repeatedly quizzing her on her relationships with boys and telling her sexual jokes, while she was aged between 10 and 17.

Three charges also relate to Walker's third alleged victim, who is said to have been abused between 2010 and 2014.

Prosecutors claim he repeatedly asked her about her relationships with boys, commented on both her breasts and her sister-in-law's breasts and repeatedly touched her breasts.

Three charges are in respect of his fourth alleged victim, a boy, who is said to have been abused between 2012 and 2017, when he was aged between 10 and 15.

The charges against Walker state he repeatedly grabbed the boy by the body, ran his hand up and down the boy's thigh, touched his body and nipples and asked him repeatedly about his relationships with girls.

He also faces a charge of assaulting the boy by forcing 'a vaporiser in to his mouth and demand[ing] he smoke said vaporiser'.

His fifth alleged victim, a girl, is said to have been abused between 2012 and 2017, and he faces four charges in relation to her.

It's claimed that he repeatedly commented on her underwear, repeatedly touched her on the body and, on one occasion, played her a video on his mobile phone which showed an adult female exposing her breasts.

He faces a single charge in relation to his sixth alleged victim, being accused of repeatedly touching her on the body, running his hands up and down her back and commenting on her underwear on a number of occasions in 2016 and 2017, when she was aged 10 and 11.

And he faces two charges in relation to his last libeled victim, being said to have abused her in 2017.

The charges state he tried to show her a video on his mobile phone of an adult female exposing her breasts, and commenting on the size of her breasts, when she was aged 11.

Walker pleaded not guilty to all 19 charges during yesterday's pre-trial hearing, held before Sheriff James Spy.

The case was continued until next month for a further pre-trial hearing to take place.

A spokesperson for St Columba's School refused to comment.