Man cleared of Duncan Smith traffic cone attack

Sir Iain told the court that he feared for his wife and her friend during the incident

A man accused of assaulting Sir Iain Duncan Smith with a traffic cone has been cleared after a judge ruled he had no case to answer.

The former Tory leader told Manchester Magistrates Court he feared for his wife and her friend when he had the cone "slammed" on to his head.

But District Judge Paul Goldspring said the evidence which identified Elliot Bovill, 32, as the culprit was "weak".

He dismissed the common assault charge against Mr Bovill, of no fixed address.

The 68-year-old veteran MP said his group was targeted as they walked from the Midland Hotel to the Mercure Hotel as the city hosted the Conservative Party conference in 2021..

The trial of co-defendants Radical Haslam, 29, of Douglas Street, Salford, and Ruth Wood, 51, of Oak Tree Avenue, Cambridge, was continuing with Mr Bovill watching from the public gallery.

'Identification difficulties'

The pair both deny using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Mr Goldspring told the court Mr Bovill had been identified by a detective on the basis of CCTV footage which was shown to the court on Monday, along with some descriptions of the clothing worn by Sir Iain's attacker.

He made it clear the politician had been assaulted in the incident but the question was whether there was sufficient evidence to prove Mr Bovill was responsible.

The judge said: "It seems to me there are a number of difficulties with the identification that had been made.

"The fact is that what [the officer] was working with was vague and flawed in the first instance."

He said the CCTV footage was poor quality and affected by glare.

Mr Goldspring continued: "In my view, the identification evidence is weak, it's tenuous, and it is completely unsupported by any other evidence."

The judge upheld the application made by Katrina Walcott for the case against her client to be dismissed.

Ms Walcott said she accepted the detective made the identification "in good faith" but his "honestly held belief" that the man in the footage was Mr Bovill was not good enough.

The case continues.