A RELIGIOUS teacher said he had been ‘absolutely confident he would be exonerated’ after being told no further action would be taken following his arrest on suspicion of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Ashraf Sidat, 45, from Blackburn, was arrested on Thursday, January 11, after he was stopped in the street by members of Justice Will Be Served, a self-styled vigilante group who passed information to police.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said the Crown Prosecution Service had made the decision about Mr Sidat. She said: “The decision has been made to take no further action. The suspect is no longer on bail.”

Speaking for the first time since his arrest, Mr Sidat said the experience has been very difficult for him.

He said: “The reaction on social media really affected me.

“There was a great deal of mental anguish, anxiety and uncertainty at the time of the arrest. I do feel it was wrong for the public to be judging me without knowing what the true nature of the incident was.

“This exoneration will allow me to hold my head up with integrity.”

He said the arrest and the subsequent period had been harrowing.

He said: “My family were devastated, words cannot describe what a horrible experience it has been. I would not want my worst enemy to go through this.

“I have an impeccable reputation of community service that has been wrongly tarnished.”

Mr Sidat, an interpreter for public authorities was also suspended from the Masjide Noorul Islam, Audley Range, where he was a senior religious teacher.

He said: “I immediately resigned from the business. It has affected the mosque and it has brought the mosque into disrepute which has been very difficult for me and the community.

“The police had a responsibility to investigate this and they followed all the guidelines. They were within the statutory timelines for the investigation which is 90 days.

“They carried out their investigation thoroughly.

“My laptop and my text messages were all checked and I am content that the CPS have said there is no case to answer.

“I was absolutely confident that I would be exonerated.”

He said: “At the time it happened I had to leave Blackburn and spend a week in Manchester for my security and for the security of my family.

“I have not been back to the family home since the arrest.”

Talking of the incident itself and how he found himself in such a predicament, he said: “Trusting people was my biggest weakness.

“We have hundreds of people wanting assistance. We tend to measure everyone by our own our standards.

“You tend to measure everyone on the same moral standards.

“I would like go back to community service. It is something I loved to do.

“At the moment I need some privacy and some time to recover after this harrowing experience.”