Anthony Hampton not guilty of six child sex charges

Anthony Hampton denies 20 counts of indecent assault

A councillor and ex-teacher has been found not guilty of six charges of indecently assaulting children.

Anthony Hampton, 74, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, denied 20 counts of indecent assault involving four children between the 1970s and 1990s.

Mr Hampton was found not guilty of one charge of indecent assault on a boy under 14 and not guilty of two charges of indecent assault on a girl under 14.

He is also not guilty of three charges of indecent assault on a girl under 16.

The jury at Cardiff Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on fourteen other charges, which alleged Mr Hampton indecently assaulted children.

The court previously heard claims he massaged and rubbed himself against children who were under 16 at the time.

The judge ordered Mr Hampton's discharge on the six charges he was cleared of.

It will be left to the prosecution to consider whether there should be a retrial.

One witness told the trial the abuse started when she was five and included Mr Hampton lying on top of her and masturbating.

Mr Hampton had told the court: "I have no idea why these people are making things up... especially when they are friends."

He said personal health problems would have prevented some of the acts he was accused of.

"These are simply false claims," he had told the court.

He said he became a teacher in 1969, a Vale of Glamorgan councillor in 1991 and served for 10 or 11 years as chairman of the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC).