1:45pm Wednesday 8th July 2009
By Wendy Barlow
AN EX-cabbie has been cleared of a total of 21 allegations of rape and indecency he was alleged to have committed against three young girls.
Robert Nichols, now 64, was found not guilty of six rape charges, one of indecency with a child and 14 counts of indecent assault, after a week-long trial at Burnley Crown Court.
The defendant was discharged from the dock by Judge Heather Lloyd and he wiped away his tears.
Nichols, of Downham Grove, Burnley, had denied all the allegations against him.
The jury had heard how the alleged victims had made complaints to police about 10 years after they claimed they had been assaulted.
The hearing was told how when the defendant was arrested and interviewed by police he told officers the girls’ claims were not true.
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