TWO men who spent nine months on remand for an armed robbery have been cleared after police were accused of suppressing evidence.

A judge described the conduct of certain officers in Cleveland Police as "lamentable" and accused them of a "gross and persistent failure to carry out their duties".

Police chiefs said last night they would not discuss the case until they have seen a full transcript of Judge David Bryant's comments.

The two men cleared yesterday were Stuart Greathead, 21, of no fixed address, and Kenneth Gray, 30, from Stockton.

The pair were in Holme House Prison in Stockton awaiting trial for a £40,000 post office robbery when they heard that two other prisoners were boasting they had carried out the raid. Their lawyers learned last September how the real robbers were gloating that Mr Greathead and Mr Gray would get 12 years for a crime they did not commit.

They faced their first trial last December, but it had to be aborted when one witness blurted out details of a criminal conviction.

The second trial ended yesterday when a jury at Teesside Crown Court found Mr Greathead and Mr Gray not guilty of robbery, and Mr Gray not guilty of having an imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery at Rosehill Road Post Office in Roseworth, Stockton, last year.

The jury had heard how police did not disclose that a suspect had confessed off-the-record to a police officer who wrote it in his notebook, and a fingerprint of another man was found on a stolen cashbox.

Tim Roberts, defending, said: "Two innocent men where held in custody all last year for a robbery the police knew they did not commit.

"It is the best example I have come across of suppressing information. We had to rely on prison rumours."

Sean Morris, prosecuting, said: "It would be unrealistic of me to say that there has not been a failure to disclose to the Crown Prosecution Service various pieces of information which should have been disclosed earlier."

Judge Bryant, who presided over both trials, said after the first one: "The conduct of the police in this case is certainly lamentable.

"It may well be that there will have to be disciplinary proceedings, and it is not inconceivable that there would be criminal proceedings against certain officers."

Mr Gray, of Whessoe Walk, said: "I am not happy about the way the case was conducted."