A YOUNG man said to have attacked a teenager who suffered a broken facial bone, has been cleared.

Liam Page, 20, was found not guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm, after a three-day trial, at Burnley Crown Court. He was discharged from the dock by Judge David Pirie, who had earlier discharged the jury from returning a verdict on a more serious allegation of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Page, of Parliament Street, Burnley, had told the police he had intervened in a physical exchange between alleged victim Alex Whatmough and a man named Jamie Moorhouse. The court was told how all three men had been out with the same girl.

Mr Whatmough had claimed he was punched repeatedly by the defendant and head-butted after Page pulled up in a car in Crawshawbooth in the early hours. He later went to hospital.

Page told police he had been attacked after intervening in a physical exchange between Mr Whatmough and Mr Moorhouse and was simply fighting back.