Aformer Royal Ballet star who sexually abused three young girls he taught in private dance lessons has been jailed for 10 years.

Stephen Beagley, 62, was a trailblazing classical dancer in the 1970s and 1980s,with lead roles in Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and West End musical Cats.

He performed with Freddie Mercury to Bohemian Rhapsody and Crazy Little Thing Called Love for a 1979 Royal Ballet gala, memorably lifting the Queen singer into the air for a photograph during rehearsals.

But his glittering career lay in tatters after he admitted abusing three girls aged nine, ten and 12 during private ballet lessons between 1997 and 2010.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault, two charges of indecent assault and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Beagley wept in the dock at Lewes Crown Court, East Sussex, as he was jailed for 10 years.