A POLISH worker has been cleared of trying to abduct a four-year-old girl at a morris dancing event last August.

Krzysztof Ogonowski, 50, of Maes y Coed, Flint, had been accused at a two-day trial where the jury announced its verdict after retiring for 55 minutes.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted abduction and his defence was one of mistaken identity.

Giving evidence with the help of an interpreter at Caernarfon Crown Court yesterday, Ogonowski denied grabbing the girl’s hand or offering to take her to shops or for swimming.

He said he had been walking across a field near the leisure centre at Flint and was singing to himself.

He claimed that because of limited English, he did not even know the meaning of the word swimming.

Asked whether he had tried to abduct the little girl he replied: “Never in my life.”

Ogonowski told Anna Price, prosecuting, that he had been in prison on remand for four months and had been “tormented mentally”.

He had merely been walking to the shops and to suggest he tried to lure the girl away was wrong.

The jury heard that Ogonowski had been pursued and attacked after the incident. 

It was “ridiculous” to suggest he had held the girl’s hand, he said.

Ogonowski, who came to Britain in 2008, was discharged from the dock after being cleared.

Members of the jury had watched a video interview with the little girl in which she  said: “He said he was going to take me shopping and swimming but I didn’t believe him. He looked scary.”

Dafydd Roberts, defending, told the jury: “Convincing witnesses can be mistaken. They may have convinced themselves – but have they convinced you?

“There’s potential for a mistake here.”