A MAN accused of killing his brother has spoken of nine months of torment as he battled to clear his name.

Tony Marshall’s brother Michael collapsed and died of a heart attack only moments after the two had argued in a shopping centre.

But Tony’s grief turned to horror when he was charged with manslaughter.

He was cleared last week after Newcastle Crown Court heard that Michael had suffered from an undiagnosed serious heart defect.

Tony, 50, of Broome Road, Carrville, Durham City, said: “I had never committed a crime in all my life and all of a sudden I was being accused of killing my own brother.

The past nine months have been a constant worry.

“I didn’t know if I was going to go to jail, so my whole life has been on hold.”

Tony and Michael fell out over the will of their late brother, Alexander.

Michael, 52, known in his home town of Morpeth, Northumberland, as Little Elvis because of his karaoke singing, died after a meeting with Tony at a solicitor’s office, in Morpeth, on August 23, last year.

After the meeting, the two argued in Sanderson’s Arcade.

Tony said: “He began to get threatening and put his head into my chest. He was trying to push his weight around because he’s only little.

“When we got to a bench all I did was sit him down and told him to stop and listen. Then he got up and swung for me.”

The two went their separate ways but Michael collapsed and died. Tony was unaware of his brother’s death until the police called at his house the next morning, took him away for questioning and searched his home for evidence.

He said: “I was just in total shock. I couldn’t believe it.

“I hadn’t even had time to grieve for my brother and then all this was happening.

“At the end it was his health that killed him. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He could have died at any point.

“It’s just awful that we argued that day. The last thing I said to him was ‘shut up’, but I could never have known.

“I’m going to try to put it all behind me and I can finally start grieving for my brother.”