A BRADFORD stepfather has been cleared of breaking a four-year-old girl's arm and beating her with a stick.

The 36-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, was on trial at Bradford Crown Court denying grievous bodily harm with intent and cruelty to a person under 16.

The man, who said he treated the child as his own and never injured her, was acquitted yesterday.

He blamed the little girl's older sisters for hitting her and accused her natural father of putting the children up to invent untrue stories about him.