MEN accused of stamping and kicking another man in a drunken brawl outside a Chester pub have been found not guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm.
Christopher Brocklehurst, of Tennyson Walk, Blacon, had been accused of assaulting Brendan Shone, alongside another man standing trial, Daniel Jones, of Rake Way, Saughall.
In the early hours of August 25 last year, the two men had become involved in an altercation with Mr Shone during a night out after the victim and a group of his friends had shouted abuse at Brocklehurst and Jones, who had been standing outside a pub on Northgate Street.
Appearing at Chester Crown Court, both men pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and were acquitted.
Brocklehurst pleaded guilty to common assault, although he claimed he had not caused the injuries to Mr Shone who was left bloodied with a swollen nose and fragments of his teeth left on the ground.
The Recorder of Chester, Judge Elgan Edwards, cleared Jones, 30, of the ABH charge after the prosecution failed to provide enough evidence.
The court heard the two men, who were with a group enjoying a night out, had become involved in a verbal altercation with Mr Shone and his four friends which escalated when Daniel Nield, a friend of Mr Shone, hit Jones with a brick on the back of his head, which then flicked out and struck Jodie Lightfoot, a female friend, knocking her to the ground and injuring her face.
Nield, who pleaded guilty to the attack and was jailed for 10 months in November, immediately fled the scene at the junction of Canal Street and Northgate Street, with Mr Shone being knocked to the ground and kicked.
Giving evidence, Brocklehurst, said: “It was not a nice thing to do and it’s not something I would normally do. I have always said you should never kick a man when he is down.”
Jurors took less than 45 minutes to find Brocklehurst not guilty of the ABH charge.
Judge Edwards said: “These kind of violent acts on our streets have got to stop. You have said that is not the kind of thing that you normally do but it is still disgraceful conduct. It is not acceptable.”
Brocklehurst was given a three month custodial sentence, suspended for two years.