[bbfan1991]

A leading choir director and his ex-wife have been convicted of indecently assaulting a former music school pupil when she was 14.

Michael Brewer, 68, of Selly Oak, Birmingham, carried out the offences at Chetham's School of Music and his Manchester home between 1978 and 1982.

The jury at Manchester Crown Court is still deliberating on charges linked to an alleged rape of the same victim.

Brewer and his ex-wife, Hilary, 67, of Rossendale, denied all charges.

Hilary Brewer, also known by her middle name Kay, was convicted of indecently assaulting the same victim when she was an adult at their then family home.

Brewer was cleared of one charge of indecently assaulting the victim as a child in his home.

Appointed OBE

The jury of six men and five women is continuing to deliberate over an allegation he raped the victim when she was aged 18 and his then-wife aided and abetted the rape.

During the trial, Peter Cadwallader, prosecuting, said Brewer had also acted in an improper way towards two other female pupils - years after the alleged victim in the case left the school.

In the early 1990s he was forced to resign from Chetham's after an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl, Mr Cadwallader said.

Brewer, who was appointed OBE in 1995, directed the World Youth Choir and also worked on the BBC's Last Choir Standing programme.