A linesman was cleared of punching a spectator in the face, causing him to lose three teeth, during a non-league football match.

Former Berinsfield Community Association team manager Keith Simmonds, 49, of Loddon Avenue, Berinsfield, denied the charge of actual bodily harm.

The incident happened in extra time during the match between Berinsfield and Bletchingdon, with the score at 3-3, during an Oxfordshire Senior League reserve fixture at Bletchingdon's Oxford Road ground on September 20 last year.

Bicester magistrates heard that former defender Gerald Hughes, who was watching his son play for Bletchingdon in the Oxford Senior League reserve fixture, disagreed with several of Mr Simmonds's decisions. Mr Hughes accepted that he went beyond the boundary rope to shout encouragement to the players on a number of occasions during the game.

He said: "The man came towards me with a flag. I thought he was going to say 'you do this bloody job, then'.

"I was grabbed around the neck and then punched. It dazed me, I did not know what was happening.

"I staggered to one side, there was blood coming from my mouth and teeth. I spat my teeth out."

Roger Coventry, prosecuting, said Mr Simmonds had "lost his rag and cool and then punched him with a kind of force to remove his teeth".

But Mr Simmonds said Mr Hughes was drunk and that at one point had a bottle of beer in his hand. Mr Hughes later told the court he had not touched alcohol for six months prior to the incident.

Mr Simmonds said Mr Hughes had used abusive language during the game and that he brought the matter to the referee's attention.

He said: "I asked him to go behind the ropes. He did not move.

"I told him if he did not move, I would get the ref to get him behind the line.

"He then lost control of himself. He said 'make me' and lunged at him himself at me with fists flying. Mr Simmonds said as he put his hands up to protect himself, Mr Hughes collided with the end of his flag, causing the injury to his mouth.

Vicki Evans, defending, said: "He was not the aggressor. He did not attempt to assault anyone. It was an unfortunate incident, no more than that."

Magistrates said they could not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt and dismissed the charge.

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