A postman has been cleared of murdering Clacton doorman Gary Chick.

Father-of-one Paul Rowley, 28, walked free from court after a judge directed the jury to find him not guilty.

He had been accused of murdering Mr Chick on November 17, 1996, near the seafront gardens in Clacton.

It was said he was with two friends when Mr Chick was attacked while walking with his fiancee Rosalind Vaughan.

But Judge Fabian Evans ruled that her evidence had "many flaws".

Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court had been told that Rowley, twice banned from the Fibbers nightclub where Mr Chick worked, had struck the tattooed doorman on the head with a weapon.

Miss Vaughan told the court she recognised Rowley, who denied murder, as one of the men.

But it emerged that she had changed her version of the incident. She had initially claimed there were four attackers and did not name Rowley until two years later.

Directing the jury to find Rowley not guilty, the judge said: "There is no clear picture of what happened, and you cannot use the evidence of Miss Vaughan to assist.

"Her opportunity of seeing his features at that time was very limited - the lighting was poor, and the incident must have been over in seconds. She could only have had a fleeting glance of the attacker's face.

"She seems to have expressed vindictive views during the course of the case, perhaps to coincide with the arrest of a man and woman during the investigation.

"Somebody killed Gary Chick. You may think that somebody murdered him, but this case reeks of suspicion, and it may well have been fuelled by rumour."

Rowley, a Royal Mail van driver, was arrested twice during the investigation, but told police he was in bed at the time.

He admitted being at the Waverley Hall Hotel, where Mr Chick and Miss Vaughan were drinking, on the night of the attack but said he left and returned to his home in Berkeley Road, Clacton.

Outside the court one of Rowley's friends said: "He doesn't want to comment - he just wants to get home to his family."

Paul Rowley - cleared

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