A MILLIONAIRE charged with murder has been bailed so that he can complete a £12 million business contract.
Clint Spearpoint, 34, was charged with the murder of 39-year-old Anton Jardin, at a house party near to the V Festival, in Chelmsford, on August 18.
The businessman from Rayleigh was at a house party, in London Road, to celebrate the end of the V Festival on the other side of the road, where he got into a fight with Mr Jardin, a graphic designer from Rayleigh, who collapsed and died in the garden of the house, near to Rose's Cafe, a court heard.
He is charged with Mr Jardin's murder alongside Sam Martin, 25, of Westcliff, who is also the boyfriend of his sister, Georgia Spearpoint.
On Thursday, Spearpoint, who is the managing director of Magnolia Air UK Ltd, an air conditioning company that supplies the London Underground, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court to apply for bail.
His defence barrister, Craig Rush, said: "There are 60 people dependent on this company, employed directly by them.
"The business has grown substantially in the past four or five years and he's grown it into a multi-million pound business.
"It's in the process of a £12 million contract that would secure the future of the company for the next seven years. It's growing fast, but it could just as quickly collapse."
When Judge Christopher Ball QC voiced concerns that Spearpoint may not return to court, Mr Rush said: "He has the strongest of ties and the strongest of reasons to remain."
On granting Spearpoint bail, Judge Ball QC said: "Often such people who appear before the courts do so with a string of convictions against their name and the court has to assess each case on merits.
"Cases of this sort may well, in due course, resolve themselves with verdicts other than guilty on the charge of murder.
"This is one of the rare cases where I will grant the defendant bail, but in its strictest form."
Spearpoint closed his eyes and wiped away tears when he heard that he would be allowed to live at home with his wife, Louise, while on bail.
He was ordered to report to Rayleigh police station on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and must adhere to a curfew between 8pm and 6am.
Eight other men were arrested on the night of Mr Jardin's death, and Georgia Spearpoint was arrested for perverting the course of justice.
They have all been bailed until September.
Sam Martin and Clint Spearpoint are both due to appear in court on October 17.
