THE ex-partner of a Ramsbottom primary school head from Bacup accused of a revenge claim that the teacher had child porn on his computer, has been cleared.

Andrew Collis, 42, was yesterday acquitted of attempting to pervert the course of justice in January after the prosecution offered no evidence at Burnley Crown Court.

The defendant, now of Bishop Tachbrook, Leamington Spa, who had denied the charge, was discharged from the dock by Judge Christopher Cornwall.

The defendant has no criminal convictions.

Mr Collis had been accused of making a false allegation to police about Damian Marsh, out of spite after their relationship ended.

The court was told even if he did make the claim out of spite, he had believed Mr Marsh, headteacher at St Andrew’s CE School, had indecent images of children on his computer.

Francis McEntee told the court Mr Collis had tried to kill himself after the claim and had written a letter, apologising and saying he had been driven to make a serious false allegation out of spite.

Mr McEntee said the shadow of Mr Marsh’s computer hard drive was examined and more than 30,000 images were found.

The prosecutor added even if Mr Collis had been driven by spite he thought he had a basis for his allegation.

Mr Marsh, of Bacup, who was arrested but later released without charge, is not facing prosecution over any child porn allegations.

After the hearing Mr Collis said he now wanted to get on with the rest of his life.

Bury Council said that an investigation conducted after Mr Collis’s allegation to police in January had found that there was no evidence of illegal activities by Mr Marsh, who had initially been suspended from his role.

The council said in a statement: “The investigating team had full access to police information and other relevant information.

“The investigation concluded that there was no evidence of any child protection concerns in relation to Mr Marsh in his role as headteacher of St Andrew’s Primary School.

“The investigating team was satisfied that there was no evidence of any illegal activities, and that Mr Marsh’s personal life did not have a negative impact on his ability to undertake his professional role.

“Following this investigation the school governing body were satisfied there were no grounds for any further action and the suspension of Mr Marsh was consequently lifted.

“A statement from the Diocese of Manchester states that this is a private matter.

"The Governors and the Diocese continue to have full confidence in the headteacher.”

A Lancashire police spokesman said no images of child pornography were discovered during investigations into the matter.