A TEACHER accused of kissing a girl and touching another inappropriately has been cleared of all charges after a week-long trial.

Brahmo Chellakootty, 63, put his hands together in prayer and thanked the jury of 12 after he was cleared of sexually assaulting two girls under the age of 16.

A trial at Ipswich Crown Court heard the charges stemmed from a time he was working at a school in the Colchester area.

One girl had alleged Chellakootty had hugged and kissed her.

Another alleged he deliberately touched her chest and leg, and made inappropriate comments.

Giving evidence in court on Thursday, Chellakootty told the jury he was proud of his 35 years experience as a teacher, having commenced his career in South Africa in the 1980s.

He firmly denied any inappropriate conduct with either complainant.

He acknowledged one girl hugged him and gave him a “peck” on the cheek, but denied he requested a kiss or kissed her back.

Instead, he said the contact was “rather innocent, like a child hugging their dad or a teacher, there was no sexual connotation”.

In relation to the second complainant, Chellakootty told the jury he may have “accidentally and briefly” touched her leg before apologising to her.

He said any contact between his elbow and her chest was “purely accidental”.

He added: “I didn’t say ‘I’ll pleasure you’ to anybody.”

Chellakootty was asked if he told the girl he was “single and mature”.

He responded: “I could have said it in a light-hearted way, I don’t think I would have said something like that. I’m married with three children.”

Chellakootty, of Burdett Avenue, Westcliff, was cleared of three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.