A teacher cut off part of his wife’s finger with a lawn mower during a row, a court has heard. But Stephen Davies, 40, denied he had deliberately swung his Flymo at his wife Claire, an optician, while he was cutting a lawn.

Davies said his wife deliberately stood on the lead and stumbled into the path of the machine during a row. Part of her left index finger was severed and attempts to reattach it failed.

A jury at Merthyr Tydfil crown court took 15 minutes to clear Davies, from Pontypridd, South Wales, of causing grievous bodily harm. The couple started divorce proceedings soon after the incident in 2012.

Davies, head of maths at a comprehensive school, was described in court as deeply religious and devoted to his work and family.