A MAN falsely accused of child abduction has spoken of the six months of hell he spent in prison awaiting trial.

Mohmed Dadhiwala always denied abducting a five-year-old girl from Morrisons in Blackburn, and was facing years in prison if convicted by a jury.

But as his trial was about to get underway prosecutors offered no evidence and a judge let him go free.

Despite being released from custody an innocent man, the father-of-four said he feels like a prisoner in his own home and fears being attacked in the street as a backlash to the publicity following his arrest.

Mr Dadhiwala said: “I feel threatened. This whole experience has destroyed me. It’s ruined my reputation and that of my family.

“I don’t feel safe on my own doorstep because I’m afraid someone will attack me.

“People know who I am and where I live because my photograph, name and address was put all over the papers and television.

“I won’t go to Morrisons any more and I used to go to three times each week.

“I’m scared that someone will say I am acting suspiciously and I’ll get arrested and locked up again.”

Mr Dadhiwala, who lives in Blackburn, was accused of picking up the youngster on the travelator in the Railway Road store

at around 3pm on November 3.

Unaware of the allegations the 44-year-old cut through the store to his car parked in Cicely Lane. Police were then informed and a manhunt was launched with officers releasing a CCTV image identifying Mr Dadhiwala as a suspect.

Having seen his photograph in the media Mr Dadhiwala drove to Greenbank Police Station in Blackburn to clear his name but was arrested and charged with the offence of taking a child without lawful authority.

He was held in police custody for three nights before being sent to Blackburn Magistrates for a preliminary hearing.

There he was denied bail, although his family raised enough money to pay a £10,000 surety, and he was transferred to the vulnerable prisoners wing of Preston Prison earmarked for convicted sex offenders.

Mr Dadhiwala said: “It was tough in there for me.

“I had to stop my prayers because they put me in with non-Muslims and I was in fear of getting attacked.

“When I first got in everyone was calling me ‘Morrisons’ because they had all seen the press reports.

“I was spat at and called a paedophile.

“Even when I was on the way to Preston Crown Court for the trial they were calling me a paedophile, linking me to grooming and saying I was giving the Asian community a bad name.

“The only way I got through it was by taking it one day at a time. I also had my faith in God and the knowledge I was an innocent man.

“Every time my cell door opened I was expecting someone to come in and say the case had been dropped and I was free to go home. But they never did.”

He added: “I was told that if I was found guilty I could be facing 15 years in prison. I just couldn’t believe it.

“I knew if I told the truth and kept my faith in God that it would turn out alright in the end and thankfully it did.

“For the last six months I have lived in constant fear and it has had a detrimental impact on my physical and emotional wellbeing. I am going to need counselling to try and get my life back to normal.”

Mr Dadhiwala was cleared by Judge Jonathan Gibson on Wednesday following a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to offer no evidence to the charge against him.

Prosecutor Rachel Woods told the court the decision was made after a letter was found which was ‘undermining’ to the Crown’s case and meant there was ‘no longer a realistic prospect of a conviction’.

The evidence was in relation to concerns surrounding the credibility of the child’s mother, which the court heard had been disclosed into evidence by the police in February. But it was only on the day of trial it was raised in the crown court.

Giving his version of November’s events, Mr Dadhiwala, who has worked in retail and merchandising but is presently unable to work because of along-standing knee injury, said he had cut through Morrisons on the way back from a doctor’s appointment at Barbara Castle Way Health Centre in Blackburn. He said he was on the travelator and moved to let a woman and child pass him.

He maintains he never touched the girl and said police found no DNA relating to him on the child’s clothing.

Mr Dadhiwala said he does not know what the child or her mother looks like and the first thing he knew about any alleged wrongdoing was when he saw his face on the police appeal.

He said: “I have been in prison for the last six months and treated like a criminal even though I was an innocent man.

“The system needs to be changed to prevent another innocent person being locked up, especially if, like me, they have gone to the police station voluntarily to clear their name.

“With my case there was no physical evidence and I was still locked up. This was disclosed to the CPS and nothing was done to see that I was released sooner.”

Mr Dadhiwala, who thanked his friends and family for their support, said he intended to lodge a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Lancashire police and the Crown Prosecution Service were both approached for comment but did not respond before the Lancashire Telegraph went to print.