A man told a jury that he had not hit a young girl in the face and on her leg with a weightlifting belt.

Brian Johnson, 37, of Gainsborough Green, Abingdon, is on trial accused of child cruelty towards a girl between October 30, 2001, and September 29, 2002.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Tuesday, April 27, Johnson denied hitting the child with a belt or smacking her so hard it left her with raised red welts.

Initially, Johnson was charged with five counts of child cruelty but, after legal submissions, Judge Julian Hall ruled that not-guilty verdicts be recorded for three charges.

The jury was also discharged from giving a verdict on a fourth charge. All four charges related to a boy.

On Monday, the opening day of the trial, the alleged victim, who gave evidence via a video link, said Johnson had "hit me really hard" with a weightlifting belt on two occasions.

Another witness claimed she had seen Johnson smacking the girl with considerable force.

But when Johnson gave evidence he said he did not have a belt. He said he had borrowed a weightlifter's belt from a neighbour to support his back while gardening, but had only kept this for about a couple of weeks.

Johnson said the child had been fed lies about him hitting her.

Other defence witnesses told the court they had not seen the defendant being physically abusive to the girl.

Summing up, prosecutor Fiona Horlick said the girl had nothing to gain from lying.

Nicholas Syfret, defending, asked the jury to consider whether the girl had been influenced by other people.