A PAIR of servicemen have been cleared of assaulting a man and knocking him unconscious as he celebrated his friend's stag do in Oxford.

There were sighs of relief from the public gallery at Oxford Crown Court yesterday as Christopher McGhee, 29, and Lee West, 34, were found not guilty of repeatedly punching Kevin Merrifield on May 16 last year.

The pair, who served together in the Falkland Islands, had each denied one count of grievous bodily harm against Mr Merrifield, who had been drinking in the city centre with friends Roger Taylor and Jai Wilmer.

Mr McGhee, of Rock Barracks in Sutton Heath, Woodbridge, Suffolk, had also been charged with assaulting Mr Wilmer but this charge was later dropped.

On Monday, Mr Taylor told the court Mr McGhee and Mr West had turned violent after he brushed past them in the street and had punched Mr Merrifield a number of times.

But yesterday, West, of Medway Close, Abingdon, told the court he did not punch anyone and McGhee said he punched a man who had "clenched fists" to defend himself.

After deliberating for slightly more than an hour, the jury of seven men and five women returned not guilty verdicts and Recorder Mark Milliken-Smith QC told them they were free to leave with no stain on their characters.

BLOB In yesterday's Oxford Mail we reported Mr McGhee and Mr West fought in the Falklands. We would like to clarify that they served there, but were not involved in the conflict.