A MAN cleared of sexually abusing children in Oxford said the ordeal has ruined his life.

Edward Wakelin, 36, said since being acquitted he has been threatened, taunted and had stones thrown at his home in Barton.

Last night he said more must be done to help men in his position, claiming people still presume he is a paedophile.

Mr Wakelin, of Humfrey Road, stood trial in February over five charges of sexual assault on a child under 13, six charges of indecent assault of a child and one of indecency with a child.

All were alleged to have taken place on the estate.

He was cleared on seven of the charges and the jury failed to reach a verdict on the rest. The Crown Prosecution service did not call for a retrial because of a lack of evidence.

Mr Wakelin, a former staff transport driver at the Oxford Bus Company, always protested his innocence. He said: “This has ruined my life, because I am not, nor have ever been, a paedophile.

“I have to put up with taunts and threats from people who presume I am guilty because they saw my name in the paper.

“It doesn’t matter to them that I was cleared, they will only believe what they want to.

“I have never done anything like that in my life – it is disgusting and I am devastated that people think I would.”

Mr Wakelin said he is struggling to find work after losing his job with the Oxford Bus Company.

He said: “I feel very let down by them – they have stabbed me in the back.

“I worked as a minibus driver and always worked hard, but they sacked me when this happened because they thought I brought the company into disrepute.

“How can that be true if I didn’t do anything wrong?

“They never gave me a chance.”

The offences were alleged to have occurred between March 1995 and December 2008.

Mr Wakelin said: “What am I supposed to do now? I have been tarnished by the lies told by a group of people for no reason.

“They were obviously in it together and making sure their stories matched.

“I don’t know why they chose me, but they did.

“It was one of the most terrifying things anyone can go through and I am now desperate to get on with my life.

“But as long as I have got this reputation hanging around my neck, nobody will come near me.”

Mr Wakelin only drove staff between the company’s headquarters in Watlington Road and the centre of Oxford.

Oxford Bus Company spokesman Phil Ashworth said: “We can’t discuss individual disciplinary cases but we are a responsible employer with an agreed set of procedures.”