AN agency nurse has been found not guilty of repeatedly groping a woman.

Manoj John, a general registered nurse, was the most senior person on duty at an Atherton care home when it was alleged he persistently touched a woman, a court was told.

But after just after three hours deliberations a jury at Liverpool Crown Court cleared him of four charges of sexual assault and he was discharged from the dock.

During his three-day trial it was claimed that he began his inappropriate behaviour during a night shift at the home on January 8 last year.

40-year-old Mr John, of Tenby Drive, Salford, denied four charges of sexual assault and was cleared of all of them.

Andrew Ford, prosecuting, told the jury that the allegations were serious because of John's seniority to the victim, the persistence of his behaviour and the effect on her.

It had been alleged he had put his hand on her knee and slid it up to top of her thigh while they sat together, touched her bottom and put his hands on her breasts from behind and grabbed her from the front and picked her up.

Mr John disputed all the allegations and said he had not sexually molested her at all. He said he put his arms out as if to pick her up to weigh her after talking about her weight but did not actually touch her.