A former teacher handed a 25-year sentence after abusing young boys was a pillar of his local community.

Dr Tyrone Murray Castles, 59, was described by a judge as someone who had been concealing a lie, presenting himself as a respected teacher but hiding that he was a "monster".

On Friday, he admitted a number of indecent assault on boys under 14 years of age and two serious sexual offences on one boy when he appeared in the dock at Norwich Crown Court.

The offences are said to have taken place in the late 1980s and early 1990s, while Castles now of Dockray, Cumbria, taught at Glebe House School, in Hunstanton. Castles later went on to be head of Earlham High School, Norwich, but none of the charges relate to his tenure there.

Castles bought the Royal Hotel at Dockray for £964,999 after he left Earlham High School in April 2007 and lived there with his wife of 20 years and their three children.

Villagers said in recent years Castles had appeared to run the hotel almost single-handedly, doing all the cooking and waiting on tables as well as serving behind the bar.

Castles became a community stalwart in the Matterdale area of Cumbria, a handful of remote villages tucked away in the fells west of the town of Penrith.

He was chair of the parish council until he resigned last summer. The council had no inkling of his past.

Its minutes from the time say: "The resignation of Dr Castles was noted with regret; by common consent he had been an extremely good chairman.

Eastern Daily Press: Tyrone Castles ran the Royal Hotel in Dockray, near Penrith in CumbriaTyrone Castles ran the Royal Hotel in Dockray, near Penrith in Cumbria (Image: Google)

"He has to concentrate on his business, which had been closed for several months due to Covid-19 regulations, but would hope to rejoin the council in year or two if a vacancy arises."

Castles was also a churchwarden at Matterdale Church, which is near the hotel. Before leaving Norfolk, he had been a churchwarden at St Mary the Virgin Church at Redgrave, near Diss, when he lived in the village.

He was on the board of governors of the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith, Cumbria, from 2015 until 2019 and also coached rugby at Patterdale Primary School.

Det Con Carl Ritchie, of Norfolk Constabulary's Child Abuse Investigation unit, said: "He operated in circles where he drew quite a lot of respect, he was a very charming man.

Eastern Daily Press: Tyrone Castles leaves King's Lynn magistrates court after being granted unconditional bailTyrone Castles leaves King's Lynn magistrates court after being granted unconditional bail (Image: Chris Bishop)

"He always presented as a very charismatic person, very smartly dressed. He was a man who had a presence about him. It's been said when he walked into a room people turned to look at him."

But the pillar of the community came crashing down in June, when he appeared before King's Lynn magistrates charged with a string of historic sex offences.

Wheres Castles taught

Tyrone Castles' career spanned 11 schools including Earlham High in Norwich, where he was the head and Mildenhall Technology College, in Suffolk, where he was deputy head.

The offences he was jailed for all took place while he taught at Glebe House, in Hunstanton and there has been no abuse alleged at any other school.

Castles trained to teach in his native South Africa, where he taught at three different schools along with one in Namibia, before he moved to the UK in January, 1988.

He became a temporary science teacher at St Lawrence College in Ramsgate, Kent, before moving to Glebe House School at Hunstanton, where he taught science and games from September 1988 to August 1990.

He taught maths and science from 1990 to 1992 at St Bede's School in Hailsham, East Sussex. From 1992 to 1998 he was deputy head of sixth form at The Howard School in Rainham, Kent.

From 1998 to 2000, he was head of sixth form at Prudhoe Community High School in Prudhoe, Northumberland.

From September 2000 to August 2003, he was deputy head at Mildenhall College of Technology.

From September 2003 - March 2007, he was the head at the former Earlham High School, in Norwich, which became City Academy in 2009.