A SPECIAL needs school headteacher accused of intimidating a witness due to give evidence against one of her teachers has been cleared.

Patricia Watson, 55, was said to have threatened the staff member's job if she gave evidence against Malcolm Phillips.

Phillips, 51, was jailed for four months last November after being found guilty of nine charges of child cruelty, relating to four youngsters aged between ten and 15.

The teacher, of Mowbray Close, Sunderland, was cleared of a further 11 allegations after more than ten hours' deliberation by a jury.

Mrs Watson, who has been a teacher for 35 years, was due to stand trial at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, but the case was dropped after hours of legal argument.

She was found not guilty of a charge of witness intimidation.

John Evans, prosecuting, said: "There is no basis upon which the Crown can proceed from an evidential point of view."

Judge Guy Whitburn ordered a not guilty verdict should be returned.

After the hearing, Mrs Watson said: "I have suffered incredibly for almost two years over a case that should never have been brought in the first place, as I was only carrying out my professional duty.

"It is normal procedure for headteachers to make internal inquiries into allegations before findings are passed on to social services and that is all that I did."