Kickboxer cleared of assault charge
A 19-year-old trained kick-boxer has been cleared of assaulting another man in a town centre.
David Cranmer had denied attacking victim Martin Cantwell and told the court he had been acting in self-defence.
Following a brief trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court he was found not guilty of causing Mr Cantwell actual bodily harm.
Cranmer, of Hampton Drive, Newport, was also cleared of being in possession of a knuckleduster as an offensive weapon.
The jury had heard that Mr Cantwell suffered an injury to his cheek and his left eye and lost a tooth in a clash in the early hours of March 19 last year.
He and his partner Bethan Brown and two friends had been returning from an evening out in Birmingham.
Ms Brown believed the defendant had been involved in an incident earlier in the day involving her younger brother.
As they drove through Newport town centre shortly after midnight they saw the defendant and Mr Cantwell got out of the car.
He said he was struck and had claimed he had seen “something that looked like a knuckleduster” before he was punched.
Cranmer told the court he had been confronted by the alleged victim who was being aggressive and had been defending himself.
He told the court he had represented his country in kick-boxing and did not have a knuckle-duster and was proficient enough to defend himself without a weapon.
