A 38-year-old Ross-on-Wye man was found not guilty at Gloucester Crown Court on a charge of sexually assaulting a very young girl.

Derek Laszlo of The Meades, Ross, pleaded not guilty at Gloucester Crown Court earlier this year and was due to stand trial on May 8th. The charges against him were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service and Barrister Richard Shepherd, told Gloucester Crown Court they would be ‘offering no evidence.’

Mr Laszlo was found not guilty by Judge Michael Cullum on Friday, April 7th. He said that as the prosecution had not offered any evidence in this case he had to give a not guilty verdict and ‘that concludes all the proceedings in this matter.’

Mr Laszlo told the Ross Gazette that the case should never have had to come to court, and now it is over he wants to forget about it.

His father, Jospeh Laszlo told the Gazette: “He is one of seven children and I know my own son, I knew all along he was not guilty.”

His mother, Kat Laszlo, added:?“This has affected the whole family badly and now we just want to forget about it.”