Taxi driver Keith Lynn has been cleared of indecently assaulting a 13-year-old blind schoolgirl.

A Basildon Crown Court jury unanimously found him not guilty of one charge and returned a majority verdict of not guilty on a second.

Mr Lynn, 65, nodded his thanks to the jury. In contrast, the victim's mother wept after the verdict and was consoled by her husband and friends.

The court heard that the girl, blind since birth, was curious to know about men's private parts and asked Mr Lynn for an explanation. But she claimed the defendant, of the Knares, Basildon, forced her to touch him.

Mr Lynn told police the girl had pestered him so much that he tricked her into thinking she was touching his private parts.

He had frequently driven the girl and a younger boy to a special school along with a woman escort.

At the school the escort and the boy went to one building and the girl and cabbie to another.

The girl alleged that while they were alone in the school playground Mr Lynn forced her to touch him.

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