An off-duty police officer has been cleared of assaulting a schoolgirl and her mother after allegedly suffering a torrent of racial and verbal abuse.

PC Peer Matloob Shah, 42, had denied assaulting the 14-year-old, who claimed he grabbed her by her neck and shook her before hitting her in the face. He also denied assaulting the girl's mother.

Wakefield magistrates yesterday found him not guilty on both charges of common assault and he was awarded the costs of his defence.

The court heard that PC Shah, of Bolton Road, Bradford, was renovating a house in the Barkerend area of the city when the young girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began taunting him. He heard her swearing and was shocked by the language used.

Magistrates heard a tape of PC Shah being interviewed by the disciplinary and complaints department.

In the interview, PC Shah, who works in the area communications room at Bradford Central police station, said the girl was giving him abuse. He said he lost his temper and told her to go away, but denied any physical contact. The girl went home to her mother, who arrived at his house very angry.

"She went straight for my throat," he said. "She was like a wild animal. I was trying to defend myself. She was saying 'I will kill you, I will kill you'.

"Then I saw her husband walking towards us. The next time I looked he was running towards me and aimed a kick. I moved and he kicked his wife."

Shah said the situation calmed down and he called the police.

The court heard from police surgeon Dr Joseph McPeak, who examined the teenager following the alleged attack.

"I checked her neck and I could find no sign of bruising or marking," said Dr McPeak. A mark on her cheekbone was not an injury which needed treatment.

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