A father accused of torturing his two sons has denied ever using scalpel blades or safety pins on them.

The 47-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also told the jury at Bradford Crown Court today that he had not used pliers to press down the tongue of one of the boys.

The Nigerian-born accused said bruising found on the boy's back might have been due to pigmentation caused when he fell from his scooter when the family was living in mainland Europe.

The boy had also fallen while playing on the stairs at their Bradford home in late January 2005, he said. He denied hitting him with a stick.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to three charges of wounding the boys and eight of cruelty. His 38-year-old wife, who also cannot be named, denies three cruelty charges.

During the trial, now in its third week, the prosecution has claimed the father sliced the boys' mouths with scalpel blades and put safety pins through their tongues.

His wife is said to have done nothing to help the children when pain was being inflicted.

The man's counsel, Latiff Adenekan, asked him to explain why he had scalpel blades in the house. He said he used them for architectural work and showed the jury computer pictures of some of the work he had done.

He said the boys had won gold awards for their work in several school subjects prior to being taken into care in 2005. Since then, they had not won awards. "I care for my family and provide for them," he said.

The trial continues.