Leaf blower OAP cleared of attack

A PENSIONER accused of attacking his neighbour with a leaf blower wept as he was acquitted by a jury yesterday.

Peter Smythe, 74, was said to have hit Nigel Clark, 63, over a row involving the clearing of a boundary ditch between their two homes.

Company director Mr Clark claimed he was struck with the gardening tool in an unprovoked attack as he went to post a letter, leaving him with a fractured nose and eye socket.

But Mr Smythe, who has arthritis, said he was punched by his neighbour before they wrestled on the ground after he asked for proof about who owned the ditch.

Mr Clark injured himself when they fell down, he said.

A jury at Chelmsford Crown Court took two hours to clear the former building sites manager of causing grievous bodily harm during the incident in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, near Tiptree in Essex, in July last year.