A teacher was falsely accused of indecently assaulting schoolgirls by boys who were unhappy that he had yelled at them in class.
Two intermediate school students admitted they made up the allegations, during a six-day jury trial in the Auckland District Court.
The teacher has lost his job, and says his 40-year career "is in ruins", Fairfax reported.
The teacher, who has name suppression, was on trial for seven charges of indecent assault at his Auckland school.
But the jury took less than an hour to find the teacher not guilty on all charges.
The Crown alleged the teacher had inappropriately touched three girls in his class, each aged 11 years.
The court was told the defendant had stroked students' hair in an indecent manner, swiped his hands over the chest area of two pupils and grabbed the breasts of another victim.
But one of the girls admitted she lied and the teacher had never assaulted her, when cross-examined by defence lawyer Marc Corlett QC, Fairfax reported.
She said she had also lied about seeing the teacher assault any other student.
A boy who claimed he witnessed the indecencies, admitted there was a plan to make up stories about the teacher to get him fired after he told them off during class, Fairfax reported.
The teacher, who had confirmed losing his temper and swearing at the pupils, told Fairfax his dismissal and the months since had been his worst nightmare.
"After 40 years as a teacher, and 27 years at this school I was dismissed within a few days of the allegations being made - allegations which have now been shown to be false, and deliberately made to get me fired," he said.
