A HANDYMAN has been cleared of raping a schoolgirl and molesting her friend after a week-long trial at Burnley Crown Court.

Alfred Scott, 50, was found not guilty of one charge of rape and six of indecent assault. He fought back tears as he was discharged from the dock by Judge Raymond Bennett.

The defendant, of Todmorden Road, Burnley, had denied the allegations.

The jury had heard claims Scott had invited the two 12-year-old girls into a hut in Haslingden, offered them sweets and abused them.

The defendant was alleged to have kissed one girl on the lips a few times, cuddled her and touched her neck and breasts. Scott was also said to have committed a sex act on her and done a similar thing to her friend.

Scott, born and raised in Haslingden, told the jury he had no convictions for sex offences and was shocked when arrested.

He had been distraught at the allegations and felt he had been hit with a sledgehammer. Scott said he had never been the same since.

He added: "Its a terrible thing to have said about you, especially when I had not done anything. It was like a bolt out of the blue."

Scott said after his arrest last October he had been put in a police cell and did not eat or sleep.

The court had been told the defendant, who declined to answer police questions after his solicitor read a statement to officers, went on: "On reflection, it shouldn't have been no comment, it should have been no way."