Crown court quashes man's assault conviction (From The Northern Echo)
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Crown court quashes man's assault conviction
5:10pm Friday 8th February 2013 in News
A MAN convicted of assaulting a court enforcement officer has had his conviction quashed.
Steven Harrison was found guilty of a common assault on Norman Robinson following a magistrates court trial, but appealed the verdict to the higher Teesside Crown Court.
Mr Harrison, 45, was accused of repeatedly barging into Mr Robinson with his head and also shoving him down a flight of stairs after he and a colleague went to execute a warrant at his home in Claymond Court, Stockton, on February 23 last year.
Mr Robinson told the court that a muscle tear he had suffered meant he now had trouble walking any significant distance and the incident meant he was also unable to sleep at night.
However, Kate Bissett, for Mr Harrison, questioned the complainant's account. She said he and his colleague had failed to identify themselves or explain why they were there. She said Mr Harrison, who was awoken from his bed, asked the men to leave and had merely tried to push past them to get to the door.
After a two day hearing Judge John Walford, sitting with two justices, allowed the appeal. He also quashed the common assault conviction.
