A former police officer has been cleared of sexually assaulting a young girl.

Paul Traynier gasped and clutched his hands when he was acquitted by the jury at Maidstone Crown Court today.

It had been alleged he had given the 12-year-old girl a love bite during play fighting.

But the 40-year-old denied any wrong-doing and told the jury the youngster was "infatuated" with him.

During the four-week trial, the court was told Traynier had also had an inappropriate relationship with another teenage girl and then lied and deceived people into believing nothing had happened.

A sexual relationship was said to have developed between him and the older girl.

But the ex-cop, who lives in Cliffe Road, Strood, told police in interviews he was not in a relationship with the second girl "pre-16".

In the dock with him were his parents, John, 64, and Shiela Traynier, 65, also of Cliffe Road.

Together with their son they were accused of two offences of perverting the course of justice

However, the couple were found not guilty on both charges by the same jury. Mrs Traynier sat crying in the dock and hugged her son.

After taking the verdicts, Judge Philip Statman sent the 12 jurors home for the weekend.

They will return on Monday to continue deliberating whether Paul Traynier is guilty of the same alleged offences of perverting the course of justice.

When asked during the trial why the youngsters developed a crush on him, Traynier replied: "I don't know really. I think it is because I'm a happy-go-lucky person."

He denied ever touching or play fighting with the younger girl

Traynier also told how his relationship developed with the older girl, maintaining he was not involved with her when she was 15.

He said while he had moral doubts, he was in a depressed state after finding out his girlfriend, Tracey Sales, had had an affair.

He told the jury: "I had refused her (the girl) advances for the period of July. I was just really depressed, very down. I had been written off sick from work. I was just in a bad place.

"She came along, showed me this bit of affection. It just grew from there really. It just happened. It wasn't a planned thing."

The charges against his parents related to notes their son is alleged to have hidden in the back of his mother's wheelchair during prison visits.

Mrs Traynier told the court she and her husband asked him not to keep passing the notes, but he continued to do so.

She said the first was pushed into her hand by her son while at Elmley Prison in Sheppey.

She said she did not feel she had any other option but to take it.

Mrs Traynier described it as a sad letter which, after discussions with her husband, was later thrown away.

She said that two further notes were found in the back of her wheelchair after another visit.

She denied that one letter contained any instructions about what somebody should say.

The notes continued during subsequent visits. Mrs Traynier told the court: "I wanted to help Paul out. He was innocent as far as I was concerned. I wanted to see if I could help."

Paul Traynier's girlfriend, Miss Sales, was also in the dock at the start of the trial, accused of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring sexual assault of a child and two offences of perverting the course of justice.

But the 36-year-old, also of Cliffe Road, was formally cleared of any wrong-doing by Judge Statman during the proceedings and the jury was directed to return not guilty verdicts.