A BUSINESSMAN from the North-East has tonight been found not guilty of the murder of a Moroccan man on the holiday island of Tenerife.
Stephen Johnson, 56, of Hettton-le-Hole, east Durham, had always denied involvement in the January 2008 incident.
As a result of the case, Mr Johnson has had to endure an enforced stay of more than three years on Tenerife.
The grandfather was accused alongside Bryan O'Connell, 31, from Liverpool, of stabbing the man to death in a fight outside a bar on the island.
Mr Johnson always maintained that he had been trying to break up the fight when the fatal stabbing took place and had told the trial in Tenerife, that, when questioned by police, he had no injuries consistent with attacking the victim.
His lawyer, Fernando Mesa, had always described the Spanish prosecution case as flimsy.
* For the full story see The Northern Echo tomorrow.
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