A special needs teacher has been acquitted of assaulting a 13-year- old pupil at an outdoor pursuits centre in North Wales.

Llandudno Magistrates’ Court was told about an incident during a visit by pupils to the Nant Bwlch yr Haearn Outdoor Education Centre, near Llanwrst, in the Conwy Valley, last October.

The prosecution alleged that the boy, who has learning difficulties and attention deficit problems, had his arm twisted when Gareth Llewellyn Jones of Galltegfa, Ruthin, removed his “hoodie” before breakfast.

A female teaching assistant had complained and told the hearing she had been so upset that she cried.

After a two-day hearing, court chair Sandra Ogden-Jones said: “We find that the degree of force used in the removal of the `hoodie’ doesn’t reach the threshold of unlawful assault.”

Mr Jones had denied being angry with the boy, who attends a special school in Denbighshire, North Wales.

His barrister, Brett Williamson, said Mr Jones, who has been a teacher for 20 years, had suffered an eight-month ordeal waiting for the case to come court.