IT was a scene of domestic bliss. Baby on the way, a successful business, and marriage plans in full swing.

But then the police swooped on Samual Kofi Ackah and his whole life and family were ripped away from him.

For the next seven weeks he was behind bars pleading his innocence to gun-related charges.

He was accused of aggravated burglary.

This left his six-month pregnant fiance Susan Styles having to look after her eight-year-old son Callum, from a previous relationship, and their 16-month-old daughter Amarie on her own.

And she also had to take over the running of his designer baby clothes shop, Cucci-Coo, in the Brunel Centre

Mr Ackah, 26, was finally released from Horfield Prison in Bristol on Monday, February 14, the Crown Prosecution Service having dropped all the charges.

And to cap it all, in spite of the CPS faxing the prison on Friday to say they had dropped the charges because of lack of evidence, he was not released until this Monday.

He was originally arrested at the start of January accused of aggravated burglary.

Mr Ackah was alleged to have gone around to 17-year-old Blair Eggerton's house in Manor Crescent, Moredon on Sunday, January 2, demanding that the teenager pay him back £100 that he was owed.

Having invited him into the house, Blair's father Barry, 51, claimed that Mr Ackah pulled a gun and said that 'next time he saw his son, he would kill him' before making off with 10 of the teenager's baseball caps.

Two days later, the police arrested Mr Ackah at his shop and he was refused bail by magistrates the next day.

Mr Ackah said: "It was the worst experience of my life and I still feel very bitter about it all.

"Blair was someone who I trusted and he used to come into the shop all the time to do odd jobs. Then one day, he came in saying he had been chucked out of home and needed £100 for a deposit for a house. I gave him the money.

"This was in October and I never saw him again. At first we were worried that something might have happened to him, but then just after Christmas, one of my friends told me that he had been seen living at his dad's in Moredon.

"So I went round there with a friend and his dad invited me in and showed me to his room and said I could take his baseball caps until he paid me the money. So I put them in a bag and left."

The bag of baseball caps were taken to Ackah's home in Lanhydrock Close, Freshbrook, before being seized by the police when they raided the house three days later.

Mr Ackah said: "I did not handle prison very well. I thought I would completely lose it. I still have nightmares.

"I've never touched a gun in my life."

Miss Styles, 28, said: "I found it very difficult to cope during this time.

"Callum was getting bullied at school because of what his stepfather was meant to have done. Amarie kept calling for her daddy. And I thought I would lose the baby.

"My father also died during this time, which was a massive blow.

"We are decent people, who are trying to live decent lives with a successful business. I would never have imagined any of this happening. When it happened we were just starting to plan our wedding."

Mr Eggerton said: "I got a letter from the CPS saying they had dropped the charges because of lack of evidence. There's no point in talking about it now as he's not going to get done for anything."

Sue Canham, a spokeswoman for the CPS, confirmed that the case had been discontinued because of insufficient evidence.

She said: "We do not comment on individual cases."