A 39-year-old man on trial accused of raping and sexually assaulting a girl aged 14 told the jury at Bradford Crown Court he was entirely innocent of the allegations.

The teenager says Mazhar Hussain Shah begged for forgiveness after one attack, saying God would punish him.

Shah, who lived in Bradford at the time but had since moved to an address in Bedford, pleads not guilty to one allegation of sexual assault and four of rape.

Giving evidence in his defence yesterday, Shah said he did not know why the girl had invented accusations against him.

Shah, a market trader, said he was working late at his clothes stall in Bradford on one of the days he is said to have raped the teenager.

Judge John Potter is expected to sum up the case to the jury on Monday before it retires to consider its verdict. The trial continues.