Penwortham barber says his life is 'shattered' after being falsely accused of grooming children online

An innocent Penwortham barber accused of grooming children online is on a mission to clear his name after it was revealed he had been set up.

Shizad Hussain runs Bladez barber shop in Leyland Lane and was arrested in January on suspicion of communicating with children online.

He was later charged and his closest friends and family abandoned him - until vigilante paedophile hunters discovered his Facebook profile had in fact been cloned. Another man has reportedly been arrested.

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Shizard was cleared of the charges but he said the damage was already done, as the wrongly vilified barber saw his life fall apart because of the accusations against him.

He was forced to close his barber shop for two months as he desperately fought to prove his innocence. He said the trauma of being falsely accused of such an abhorrent crime has seriously affected his mental health.

Last week, Shizad reopened his barber shop in Middleforth as he bravely began rebuilding his shattered life and livelihood.

He said: "I would firstly like to apologise to all my customers for taking much time off since January this year.

"I was arrested and charged with some serious allegations for which I am now cleared. The allegations affected myself, my work and my family.

"I had no access to my phones nor my Facebook page. I have since been working hard with my mental health and trauma which wasn't easy but I have been taking everyday as it comes.

"I also would like to thank my customers and friends in Penwortham who helped me so much with dealing with my day to day.

"Bladez Barbershop is now open daily and running as usual. Again my sincere apologies for the time taken off."

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A victim, not a predator

In a strange twist, Shazid now has the support of the vigilante paedophile hunters who sought to expose him and handed him over to police.

They are now eager to help Shizad clear his name.

In a statement published online, the group said: "In January, another man was arrested, he admitted to us that he deliberately set up Shizad Hussain.

"We can confirm this is true and that Shizad, also known as Shiz barber, is innocent and is a victim.

"We can fully confirm that Shiz is a nice, hard working individual who is innocent and he deserves lots of love after what was done to him.

"Shiz is a hard working family man who's Facebook account was cloned. Thankfully we never exposed Shiz, but it seems that Chinese whispers in the local area are going around.

"For absolute clarity, Shiz is a nice man who has done nothing wrong! Love to Shiz and his family."

Lancashire Police have been approached for comment.