A footballer has been cleared of grievous bodily harm after he hit a team-mate during a training session.
Howbridge Swifts player Leon Davis punched defender Matthew Willis after he took the ball from him in a tackle.
Throughout his trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, the 25-year-old insisted he hit the teenager in self-defence as he feared he would be attacked himself.
The jury returned a not guilty verdict yesterday after just over an hour of deliberaton.
They had heard how the team had been split into two for a training match in Witham on June 27 last year.
Davis said there had been shirt-pulling as Mr Willis tackled him for theball and claimed the 19-year-old then waved his arms about shouting "come on then".
Davis, of Fabians Close, Coggeshall, said he hit out in self-defence.
Mr Willis fell to the ground following the punch but got up and carried on playing, said Laura Thomas, prosecuting.
He went to Broomfield Hospital later that day, where it was discovered his jaw was fractured in two places and some of his teeth had been damaged.
More in today's Evening Gazette
Published Friday, December 2, 2005
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