A builder has spoken of his relief after being cleared of threatening his girlfriend with a machete and accusing her of having an affair.

Benjamin Southgate said the past few months had been a “nightmare” after being accused of assaulting Alysia Peace and causing her actual bodily harm on February 26.

But yesterday, a jury at Bradford Crown Court cleared the 32-year-old of the charge. Mr Southgate, of Far Malt Kiln Farm, Thornton, Bradford, said: “I’m just glad it’s all over.

“It’s just been a nightmare, but now I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it’s onwards and upwards.

“It was agony waiting for the jury, but I’d like to thank my barrister and my legal team for their help.”

Mr Southgate said he is no longer seeing Miss Peace, a waitress, who told the court she was asleep on the settee at the couple’s home at 6.45pm when Southgate came in “intoxicated and drunk”.

She said she was woken by him repeatedly hitting her on the head with his laptop computer.

But Mr Southgate told the jury he did not lose his temper and Miss Peace may have been injured when she banged her head on the floor.

He said he had been working that day and did not come home drunk.

His barrister, Jeremy Lindsay, told the jury yesterday Miss Peace may have wished to exert control over him by calling the police to get him into trouble.

Mr Lindsay said: “He did not commit a crime. He has been falsely accused of a crime.”

Miss Peace said she suffered lumps to the back of her head and big clumps of her hair were pulled out.

She told the court she loved Southgate and had seen him about twice a week since the alleged attack.

Cross-examined by Mr Lindsay, Miss Peace said she had worked as a waitress until midnight the previous day.

She did not get home until 6.30am because she had gone to a friend’s house afterwards for drinks.

Miss Peace said she had had two glasses of wine and did not come in drunk.