A MAN accused of being involved in a doorstep machete attack has been cleared by a court.

Terrence Allen walked free from the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court, after a judge said there was insufficient evidence against him.

Mr Allen had been charged along with Terrence Spears with wounding Gary Yates with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

The prosecution had alleged Mr Allen, 46, had handed a machete to Spears before the alleged attack last year.

But in a statement he made to police after he was arrested, Mr Allen said Mr Yates was armed with the machete and started fighting with Spears. He said he then ran off and did not see what happened next.

Mr Allen, formerly of Cressing Road, Witham, but now of Stanstrete Field, Great Notley, was cleared after legal submissions at the end of the prosecution case.

Judge Charles Gratwicke said: “As far as Mr Allen is concerned, there is not sufficient evidence against him.”

A not-guilty verdict was recorded and Mr Allen was formally discharged by the court.

The trial had heard 45-year-old Mr Yates received three serious wounds to his left arm and it was broken in three places after the incident, on September 20 last year.

He had answered the door of his home in Douglas Grove, Witham, and was allegedly confronted on his doorstep by Spears wielding the machete.

The two men had gone to the house after Mr Yates had broken up a row between his daughter and Mr Allen’s daughter.

The prosecution had claimed Mr Allen accused Mr Yates of hitting his daughter and allegedly handed a machete to Spears, 39, of Milton Road, Witham, seconds before the attack.

The trial continues.