Riot violent disorder case dropped

A man accused of violent disorder during the summer riots will face no further action, a court has heard.

Christopher Howard, 42, was on trial at Teesside Crown Court having denied the offence.

Prosecutor Rachel Masters told jurors there was no footage of Mr Howard committing an offence in Middlesbrough 4 on August and no "realistic prospect of conviction".

Three other men - Kaleb Peacock-Lightfoot, 20, Joseph McKenzie, 28, and Anthony Brown, 38, are also on trial having denied violent disorder.

Judge Jonathan Carroll asked the jury to return a not guilty verdict against Mr Howard.

The court was previously told Mr Howard’s actions were witnessed by a police officer who had reported an "older unidentified man" being joined by the defendant, both of whom kicked his shield.

The jury was told unrest spread from an afternoon protest at the town's cenotaph.

It is the first trial linked to the riots in the North East involving violent disorder, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Mr McKenzie, of Skeldale Grove in Darlington, had been seen to "be at the forefront" of the unrest, shouting expletives and throwing missiles at police.

He was "approximately five to 10m in front of our line, in between ourselves and the main disorder taking place", an officer told the jury.

Mr Brown, of Windsor Road in Middlesbrough, is also accused of assaulting an emergency worker.

The prosecution said he struck a police officer on the shoulder with a bicycle.

"Mr Brown made a lean to his right and swung his bike in front of him in a swinging motion, it came round my shield and hit me on my side on my left shoulder," the officer told the court.

Defending, Gary Wood suggested from footage shown to the jurors that the bike was not lifted high enough to hit the officer's shoulder.

Jurors were also told the actions of Mr Peacock-Lightfoot, of Dixon Grove in Middlesbrough, were captured on CCTV, which included being part of a group throwing missiles.

In defence, Lee Goodchild asked the officer who arrested Mr Peacock-Lightfoot whether they had seen the defendant throw a missile towards the police, to which they said they had not.

The trial is expected to last five days.

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