A religious leader has been cleared of allegations that he repeatedly beat a boy pupil at a Bradford mosque.

A jury at the city's Crown Court took less than two hours to find 39-year-old Ayub Ibrahim Khalifa not guilty of two charges of causing actual bodily harm to the eight-year-old boy.

Father-of-four Khalifa, of Percival Street, Barkerend, Bradford, was also acquitted of two allegations of intimidating a witness and one of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

In a statement after the case, the committee of the Masjid Uzman mosque in Seymour Street said: "Mufti Ayub Ibrahim Khalifa is relieved that these completely false and scandalous allegations made against him have been rejected by the jury unanimously and justice has at long last prevailed.

"These have been extremely difficult times for him and his family and the entire Masjid Uzman mosque and Muslim community.

"He wants to make it clear that neither he nor any member of the mosque community condones any physical chastisement of children."

During the trial the prosecution alleged that trouble began in July last year when Khalifa was teaching the boy and lost his temper because he had not properly learned a lesson.

Khalifa hit him on the head with his hand and a stick, causing his nose to bleed, said prosecutor Simon Phillips.

The first nosebleed set off a series of others which eventually needed medical treatment.

The beatings continued and police were told by the boy that he was hit with a stick, said Mr Phillips.

The boy's mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, also told the court she was offered a blank cheque to drop the case when Khalifa turned up at her house.

She claimed that he threatened to strangle her children and called her names.

But giving his evidence, Khalifa told the jury: "After listening to these allegations my heart was crying."

One of his colleagues, Yasin Ibrahim, told the court Khalifa was sociable and popular with all ages. He was also an excellent teacher who always had a smile on his face. He had not seen him lose his temper or use violence as a means to discipline anyone.