A Lowestoft man has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting two girls more than 20 years ago following a two-week trial.

Garry Caswell, 43, denied 10 offences of indecent assault and two of indecency with a child in respect of one alleged victim and offences of rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child in respect of another alleged victim.

Giving evidence during his trial at Ipswich Crown Court, Mr Caswell, who served in the navy for eight years, said he didn’t know why the two complainants had made the allegations against him.

He told the jury all he could think of was that he’d had a disagreement with one of them over a car he sold her and had fallen out with the other one when she refused to pay the agreed price for some furniture.

The alleged offences dated back to the mid-1990s.

Mr Caswell wore a grey suit in the dock and wept as he was cleared of all charges on Wednesday.

The jury, of eight men and four women, took five hours and 52 minutes to reach unanimous not guilty verdicts on 12 counts and a majority not guilty verdict on one offence of indecent assault.

Two of the charges were withdrawn.