Manchester United captain Roy Keane has been cleared of all charges relating to an alleged assault on a teenage boy. The Irish international was found not guilty of common assault, a public order offence and criminal damage.
Mr Keane, 33, of Hale, Cheshire, had denied assaulting a 16-year-old boy who taunted him in the street.
A judge at Trafford Magistrates' Court in Greater Manchester said he was not convinced by the teenager's evidence, saying he had been exposed as a liar. District Judge Paul Richardson said:
"It was clear to me this was a young man who enjoyed the attention that the incident had given him. Given his motive was at the best very questionable, I could not rely on his evidence."
Mr Richardson said the student had been exposed as a liar and had been warned by police not to speak to the press before the case went to court.
But he broke the promise by speaking to reporters and then denied he had done so to the police.
Mr Keane first clashed with the teenager when he and a friend drove past on their mopeds. The teenager swore at him and made an obscene gesture. He has been vindicated today and he is very relieved justice has been done
A few weeks later, on 4 September last year, Mr Keane spotted the teenager outside his home a second time. Mr Keane went over to talk to the teenager, but denied any assault. The teenager had claimed the footballer grabbed him round the neck, swung a punch stopping just short of his face and snapped his neck chain.