A former PE teacher who was jailed for sex offences against children has avoided having his sentence increased - despite judges agreeing he got off lightly.

Glyn Barrington Jones, 57, began his offending as a trainee teacher in Plymouth in the 1970s and continued abusing girls at schools in Norfolk.

He taught at Lynn Grove High School in Gorleston, and Hellesdon High School, near Norwich, before he later moved to Australia.

In total, six victims were abused - five of them under the age of 16 - by Jones, who lived as a 'clandestine sex offender' for two decades.

He was extradited from Australia and, after admitting seven indecent assaults, was jailed for five years at Norwich Crown Court in August.

Today, the case was back in court as the attorney general, Jeremy Wright QC, applied to have the term increased.

But despite saying the sentence was 'lenient', appeal judge Lord Justice Simon refused to up Jones' punishment.

'Most of these offences were serial crimes against young people by someone who was in a position which required him to care for them, not abuse them,' he said.

But he added: 'Looking at the overall sentence, we have concluded that it was a lenient sentence, but should not be characterised as unduly lenient.'

The court heard Jones had attacked his first victim, kissing her 'passionately', when he was a trainee in Plymouth in the 1970s.

Once qualified, he moved to Norfolk, where he worked at two high schools, abusing five different pupils.

The girls were flattered at his attention, but were then kissed, groped, and on one occasion, forced to perform a sex act.

Jones' offending did not come to light until many years later, by which time he had emigrated to Australia and was living near Brisbane.

For the attorney general today, barrister Paul Jarvis argued that the most serious assault justified five years by itself.

To impose five years for abusing all six victims was far too soft, he argued.

However, his lawyers argued the sentence was punishment enough, given he had returned to the UK voluntarily and pleaded guilty.

The length of the sentence was upheld.