Former Leeds school boss cleared of multiple sex offences against child
An ex school academy boss has been cleared of a string of sexual accusations following a trial.
Gareth Mason was accused of offences dating back more than 20 years.
This included six counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16 and one of attempted indecent assault.
He was charged in 2023 and a five-day trial was recently held at Leeds Crown Court after the 54-year-old denied wrongdoing.
Having heard all of the evidence, the jury deliberated for just one hour and 52 minutes before returning not-guilty verdicts on all counts. He was subsequently discharged.
Mason, of Meynell Road, Colton, was reported to have left his role as chief executive of the Falcon Education Academies Trust In October 2020.
Falcon was set up in 2019 as part of a Government-led scheme to take over schools in the north that no other trust wanted.
Mason had been on secondment from Delta Academies Trust at the time.
Delta, based in Knottingley in Wakefield, has dozens of schools under its wing, including 11 primary and secondary schools in the Leeds and Wakefield area.