A WAR veteran alleged to have sexually abused three young girls has been cleared of all charges at Cardiff crown court.

Former Desert Rat Roy Pratlett thanked the jury after they returned not guilty verdicts on two charges of indecently assaulting a girl aged nine, three charges of indecently assaulting a girl aged six, one of committing an act of gross indecency towards her and a further charge of indecently assaulting a second girl aged nine.

After the foreman of the jury had returned the verdicts the 78-year-old, of Albion Terrace, Blackwood, who walks with a Zimmer frame, turned to them and said "I want to thank you" and made the sign of the cross.

During a one and a quarter hour interview with Detective Constable Geoff Ford the pensioner had "denied each and every allegation" made by the girls, the court heard.

He told the jury that one of them fantasised and that on no occasion had he touched them in an indecent manner.

Prosecutor Hilary Roberts claimed that Mr Pratlett, who has a heart condition and suffers from the effect of a stroke, abused the girls between May and November last year.

It was claimed he told the six-year-old: "Don't tell anyone. I'll go to prison and you'll go to the homes."

Mr Pratlett had told the court that he had lived in Blackwood for 23 years and was divorced in 1972. He said he served in north Africa and southern Europe in the Second World War and had lived in Italy for 20 years before returning to Britain.

The court heard that since his arrest he had consistently denied all allegations against him. Giving evidence he told jurors: "I didn't touch those girls in an indecent way at all."

Two months ago the pensioner's trial had to be stopped when he was taken to hospital suffering from chest pains.