PUTRAJAYA, June 2 — British paedophile Richard Huckle has never participated in programmes organised by the Education Ministry, said its director-general Datuk Seri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof.

In a statement here today, the ministry said Huckle's name was not in the lists of participants for either the native speakers programme conducted from 2010-2015 or the English Teaching Assistants programme, carried out since 2012 until now.

 Both programmes involve the participation of foreigners as teachers.

"The Education Ministry would like to state here that British-born Richard Huckle has no link at all with the ministry through education programmes as claimed by some irresponsible quarters," the statement said.

Huckle, who is now facing a life sentence after pleading guilty to 71 counts of sexually assaulting children in Malaysia since he visited the country in 2005 was said to have provided English language tuition to poor Christian community in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama