A MAN accused of indecently assaulting a girl more than 300 times while they played doctors and nurses' has been cleared of all charges.

Steven Paul Whitlow, of Langford Road, Lostock Gralam, stood trial at Chester Crown Court for seven charges, alleged to have happened between March 1988 and April 1994.

Gareth Roberts, defending, said the jury should not judge the defendant on his appearance. He added: "It's easy to have one look at someone and to jump to the conclusion they have done what they are alleged to have done without considering the evidence.

"These allegations are implausible, unrealistic and unfair. The question is, did it happen? Can you be sure it happened? She made a statement saying she had been abused every Saturday for five to six years.

"Three hundred incidents and not one occasion when someone walks past. No-one saw a thing."

The court heard the 34-year-old supermarket worker admitted the allegations in police interview, after being questioned 49 times, but later said he was not guilty.

Whitlow, who was described as a simple man' and who scored in the bottom 10 per cent of the country in intelligence tests, said he was not lying but made stories up'.

He also admitted showing his penis to the complainant and getting her to touch it but said he didn't know why he had done it and confessed to simulating sex.

Judge Stephen Clarke said the complainant alleged the incidents happened when they played in the defendant's bedroom. She said she had written about it in her diaries, but had burned them when she was 13.

She said she also told her grandmother before she died before making an official complaint last June.

The jury took six hours to return not guilty verdict.