Father cleared of assaulting boy
The Paignton man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was accused of 'dragging' the boy along the pavement during a heated confrontation.
But magistrates agreed with his version of events in which he said he picked up the boy by his jacket and told him to 'leave my boy alone'.
The court was told on January 19 the man's 14-year-old son was allegedly attacked from behind by the 12-year-old with whom he had a long-running feud.
When his mother found him at home bleeding she called her husband to tell him what had happened.
Giving evidence the 12-year-old said he heard the man's van scream to a halt a few feet away from where he and two friends were walking.
He said: "I tried to run away, but fell over."
He accused the man of grabbing him by the back of the neck and pinning his head down on the floor while making threats not to harm his son again.
A 16-year-old witness, who was a friend of the alleged victim, said: "He grabbed him and just chucked him into the air."
He also alleged he made loud threats to 'teach the boy a lesson'.
"He didn't hit him, but the way he touched him hurt him," he added.
Under cross-examination by defence solicitor Richard Porritt, the 16-year-old expressed his unhappiness with the questioning and walked out of the room, only to return a few moments later at the request of the prosecution solicitor Neil Lawson.
Giving evidence, the defendant said he had only acted after a string of alleged bullying incidents against his son.
He was asked by Mr Porritt whether he pushed, dragged pinned down or hit the victim, to which he replied 'no'.
He said: "I wouldn't intentionally hurt him. All I wanted to do was tell him to keep off my son."
He added: "I was angry, but didn't intentionally try to assault him."
His wife, who witnessed part of the incident, said in evidence there had been difficulties between her family and that of the alleged victim.
But she refuted a suggestion by Mr Lawson she was acting to protect her husband out of loyalty.
She said: "I may be loyal, but if this was in any way an assault I would have told him to accept a police caution."
Magistrates took less than half an hour to reach a decision.
Jeff Beer, chairman of the bench, said he was disappointed by the attitude and 'lack of respect shown to the court' of the two young prosecution witnesses.
However, he said the decision was based on the facts of the case and on the balance of facts found the man not guilty.
He added: "It is about time community police take action in this area to make sure this sort of thing does not happen again.
Later the CPS defended its right to bring the case to court.
A spokesman said: "As with all cases brought to us we review this case in light of the code for crown prosecutors.
"We were satisfied there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and felt it was in the public interest to proceed with prosecution."
