A respected headmaster cried with relief when a jury acquitted him of indecently assaulting a pupil at the start of his career.

Paul Sheppard, 52, was alleged to have committed the offence at Ampleforth College against a ten-year-old boy in the late eighties.

He spent a term at the prestigious Ryedale boarding school as part of his teacher training course in his native Canada, York Crown Court heard.

The jury of ten men and two women took an hour and forty minutes to acquit him of indecent assault.

Dr Sheppard, who was arrested at Heathrow Airport last December when he arrived in the UK for a month-long trip to visit relatives for Christmas, denied the charge. A second charge of a similar offence against the same ten-year-old boy was thrown out by the judge at the end of the prosecution.

Dr Sheppard spent a month in prison on remand before being granted bail with conditions that he lived at an address in Surrey and that a friend acted as surety for him.

Since leaving Ampleforth College, Dr Sheppard has taught at other schools across the world, including at the American School of Yaounde in Cameroon and St John's School, a boarding school in Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada, where he rose to be headmaster in 2000.

Several former pupils, parents of pupils and work colleagues gave character references during the trial praising his abilities as a teacher and his personal attributes including his integrity.

The jury heard allegations that he spanked the ten-year-old boy on his bare bottom as punishment for misbehaviour in a school dormitory and for skipping prep to play in the school gardens.

Dr Sheppard told the jury he could not remember punishing the boy. He said it was possible he could have given him corporal punishment but he would never have removed the boy's trousers or pants.

Although the college had no policy about spanking, he understood it was in common use and had himself witnessed another member of staff doing it, so he himself had done it.

He said corporal punishment was common in Canada during his childhood. He was educated at Ridley College, Canada and served in the Canadian Air Force.