A Blackbird Leys man spent almost six months on remand before prosecutors dropped the drug dealing charges he had faced – clearing him of the criminal allegations hanging over his head since May.

Marc Stewart, 41, was due to stand trial on drug dealing charges at Oxford Crown Court from Wednesday (October 18), having been remanded in custody by the magistrates at the start of May.

But prosecutors offered no evidence before the jury was sworn-in, after it emerged that the only evidence allegedly linking Stewart to the ‘Billy’ drugs line was a phone that a police officer claimed had been called by known addicts.

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And while the constable said as much in a statement, the data from the phone that might have helped back-up the assertion – and which served as the ‘foundations’ of the case against the defendant - had not been served on the defence.

“It’s not even off the ground floor, this case,” defence barrister Peter du Feu said, comparing the Crown’s case to a house.

He suggested that a co-defendant, Londoner Omar Thompson, who had pleaded guilty to involvement in dealing class A drugs, was only picked up as an ‘add-on’ in a wider investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

Mr du Feu said: “Through Mr Thompson, Mr Stewart became involved.

“The police have taken insufficient interest and the prosecution have simply missed the point.”

The brief added: “The Crown Prosecution Service – the reviewing lawyer – should swallow their pride and say we’ve made a mistake here, we’re offering no evidence.”

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Prosecuting, Laura Hollingbery said she had anticipated the problems raised by the defence when she was briefed to prosecute the trial on Tuesday night.

She had hoped that the police officers attending court for the trial would be the nominated officer in the case, sometimes called the OIC, and the constable who identified addicts’ numbers as calling Stewart’s phone.

“He’s not in attendance,” she told Judge Nigel Daly.

Having been given an hour to speak to the reviewing lawyer, Ms Hollingbery returned to court before lunch and offered no evidence. Formal not guilty verdicts were recorded against Stewart, of Knights Road, Oxford.

The co-defendant, Thompson, 34, of St Louis Road, London, will be sentenced at another hearing.