A DOORMAN last night spoke of his relief after being cleared of attacking two customers outside an Oxford bar.

Christian Coulthurst said his life had been in ruins since being charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

The 30-year-old was working at Que Pasa in New Road, Oxford, in August 2007, when he found Robert Rzepnicki asleep and asked him to leave. But, Mr Coulthurst said, as he followed Mr Rzepnicki out of the bar’s fire exit, he was surrounded by a group of Mr Rzepnicki’s friends who started punching him.

He said: “It all just kicked off. Punches were thrown at me. Someone put his arm around my neck. I was outnumbered and on my own. I thought I was going to get a good kicking.

“I just started throwing punches back. I wasn’t attacking, I was being attacked.”

The jury at Oxford Crown Court took less than one hour to clear Mr Coulthurst of Shenley Brook End, Milton Keynes, of two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

During the two-day trial the jury heard Mr Rzepnicki needed emergency surgery after having his jaw broken in two places.

His friend Robert Sas was left with bruising to the face, cuts to the eye and a chipped tooth.

Speaking after the case, Mr Coulthurst, a father-of-four, said he had not worked as a doorman since last summer because he was unable to renew his licence after being charged.

He said: “It has basically written my life off.”