A PUB landlord who was cleared of breaking a customer's jaw with a baseball bat over an unpaid bar tab has spoken of his relief.
Richard Henfrey, landlord of The Carpenters Arms, Maldon, was found not guilty of actual bodily harm by a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday after a confrontation sparked by an unpaid bar bill in August last year.
Mr Henfrey, 54, said: "I feel really relieved. It has been a truly unnerving experience from the time the incident happened until now.
"I didn't know what to expect going into court. It all hinged on the jury and I'm just so glad they made the right decision."
The prosecution claimed that he had chased Karl Woplington and two friends armed with a baseball bat on August 18 last year after the three men had failed to pay the £11 bill for their pints at the pub in Gate Street.
It was alleged that the ex-Maldon district councillor had swung the bat, striking forklift truck driver Mr Woplington and fracturing his jaw, forcing him to take two weeks off work.
But Mr Henfrey pleaded self-defence to the charges of actual bodily harm, and possession of an offensive weapon, telling the court the three had "offered violence to him".
"It was a quiet evening. I had finished my afternoon shift and was sitting enjoying a pint with an old friend," he told the court.
"My barman informed me that the three men had left without paying for their beers so I went outside and called to them and their response was aggressive.
"They then made to approach me and looked very threatening, which is when I went back in and asked for the bat.
"One of the men then lunged forward as if to punch me and as I turned to protect myself I also brought up the bat."
The jury took just two hours to reach the not guilty verdict at Chelmsford Crown Court this week, clearing Mr Henfrey both of possessing an offensive weapon and actual bodily harm against Mr Woplington.
"It's been a massive weight hanging over me and my family, and now that weight has been lifted," said the publican, who suffers from a tremor, a chronic lung disorder, and osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint condition.
"My wife has had to remortgage our house to pay for the defence legal bills and, even if we can recover some of that, it will have cost some thousands of pounds.
"Thanks go to my barrister Janick Fielding for a very thorough defence, and all my customers who have supported me.
"There were certainly a few glasses raised after the verdict."
