A FORMER Worcestershire boarding school pupil has told a court how a teacher watched him shower before handing him a towel.

He was giving evidence against the former headmaster of Bredon School, Colin Wheeler, who denies 24 counts of indecently assaulting 11 boys between 1979 and 1998.

Wheeler, now aged 42, taught at the private school for 19 years, moving from maths teacher and rugby coach to director of studies and, eventually, head.

The alleged victim told Worcester Crown Court yesterday that he enjoyed a close "demonstrative" relationship with Wheeler.

In the absence of his own father he looked up to him as a mentor and the pair would often hug and playfight.

On occasions Wheeler would invite him into his home in the school grounds alone and touch the witness, then aged 15 or 16, beneath his clothes.

"I'd sit next to him, have a beer, in time lie across his legs and watch TV," he said.

"He'd run his hands through my hair, touch the back of my neck, run his hands across my chest. A couple of times he went further towards my groin."

The 27-year-old recalled feeling "very awkward and embarrassed" and thinking his own parents would not have been so familiar.

"On numerous occasions I'd push his hand away and stop the situation going any further," he said.

On another occasion Wheeler followed the witness into the curtain-less shower room following training, watched him wash, and handed him a towel.

"He was just standing there talking to me, looking at me," said the witness.

Under cross-examination he denied staff regularly supervised older pupils in the showers.

When the witness showed an interest in taking up rugby, Wheeler asked if he would be willing to strip naked so that he could measure him.

He agreed because he wanted to show he was "willing to do what was required", but the measurements were never taken.

He said he never reported the alleged assaults because he did not want to bring more stress to the then headteacher who was very ill and for whom he had "great admiration".

He continued to visit Wheeler's home because he felt that by stopping him he had made his feelings clear and he was "desperate" to become one of the master's favourites.

"I looked to him as a mentor, someone to talk to," he said. "Boarding school can be very lonely at times."

Boys were asked to head's

home to be 'measured up'

AN ex-rugby player at Bredon School described to the jury how Colin Wheeler would invite pupils back to his home so that they could be "measured up".

Wheeler is alleged to have used the process as an excuse to indecently assault young boys.

But one witness said yesterday that the measurements were useful because they helped with muscle development and weight training.

The full-time boarder said he twice stripped down to his underpants to be measured.

"The purpose of the exercise was to get physically fit for rugby," he said. "He had a chart showing muscle sizes. You could see yourself improving, which was quite a motivating factor."

The witness said Wheeler had suggested that the witness and his friend strip off completely, but they had declined to remove their underwear.

He agreed Wheeler did "brush" his private parts while taking the inside leg measurements, but did not feel it was a sexually-motivated move, more "like being measured for trousers".

"He logged the measurements in a book," he said. "He showed me the book the second time. He told me exactly how the measurements had changed. It was a long time later so it was really interesting."

On two occasions Wheeler greeted the same witness following a rugby match by grabbing his testicles.

Another witness took the stand to be shown a picture of himself naked.

It was taken on a coach during a school rugby tour and was later allegedly found among a collection of similar pictures in Wheeler's home.

The witness, now 23 years old, said he considered it to be a prank.

"In my experience, and I've played in many sides since, it goes on in all rugby clubs," he said. "I know of a number of other schools where it's gone on."

He said that he had never seen the picture before yesterday and was not aware that it was in Wheeler's possession.

He did not know if had been confiscated by Wheeler to prevent it becoming public.

The former day-boy said he, too, had been grabbed by the testicles by Wheeler following a rugby game, which had left him "shocked".