A COMPLETELY innocent businessman and community worker won £40,000 damages from a former Ukip official today over a tweet falsely accusing him of child grooming.

Labour supporter Zahir Monir of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, brought libel proceedings at the High Court in London against Steve Wood, the ex-chairman of Ukip’s Bristol branch and candidate for Bristol South at the May 2015 general election.

Mr Justice Nicklin found that the allegation was “life-changing” and had transformed the lives of Mr Monir and his family “for the worse.”

“It needs to be stated clearly. Mr Monir is completely innocent,” he said.

The tweet, written by the branch’s then vice-chairman John Langley and published on Bristol Ukip’s official Twitter account on May 4 2015, three days before the election, featured a photo of Mr Monir and one other person standing on either side of Labour MP Sarah Champion.

It read: “Sarah Champion labour candidate for Rotherham stood with 2 suspended child grooming taxi drivers DO NOT VOTE LABOUR.”

Those who shared the tweet included former English Defence League leader and convicted fraudster “Tommy Robinson” — real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Mr Monir’s property had been egged and a brick thrown through a window, while he had been called “Jimmy Saville” by another parent at the school where he was previously a parent governor.

Although Mr Langley wrote the tweet, Judge Nicklin found he was "quite clearly acting as the agent of Mr Wood" at the time.

The judge said Mr Wood, a former police officer who now runs a bailiff firm, had adopted a "mean-spirited stance" by refusing to publicly apologise and withdraw the allegation.