An Oxfordshire prisoner has been acquitted of wounding his former cellmate with a broken sauce bottle.

In a trial at Oxford Crown Court, Simon Barber was charged with stabbing Simon Smith with the bottle at Bullingdon Prison, near Bicester, in January last year.

Barber, 45, from Moss Side, in Manchester, was alleged to have taken revenge on fellow prisoner and drug-user Mr Smith after overhearing that Mr Smith was about to hurt him for writing a note to prison officers informing them of his habit.

Barber denied the charges of wounding another prisoner with intent and said that Mr Smith had threatened him for being a "grass".

The prosecution alleged that Barber waited until inmates were let out of their cells for dinner before going to Mr Smith's cell with the sauce bottle, which he had broken.

Prison officer Timothy Rose told the court that he saw Barber threaten Mr Smith with the bottle and "thrust it at him".

The bottle had been pushed into Mr Smith's neck, just millimetres away from his jugular vein.

Peter Ross said that Barber had acted in self-defence and had pleaded with Mr Smith to stop threatening him.

Kate Mallinson, prosecuting, said that Barber's action was a "pre-emptive strike" which had left Mr Smith in a "life-threatening situation".