Charges dropped against rugby star

Last Modified: 22 Apr 2008
Source: ITN

Prosecutors have dropped assault charges against England rugby star Olly Barkley after a fracas at a wedding.

The Bath and England fly-half was accused of assaulting a fellow guest at a wedding.

Barkley, 26, had appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to attacking TV producer Simon Cole following a reception at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire in July last year.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyers officially dropped a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm due to a lack of evidence at a hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court.

Barkley, from Bath, has won 21 England caps and featured in England's Rugby World Cup campaign last year.

He said in a statement: "I am naturally relieved by the decision today, but disappointed that it should have ever come to court."

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