A BULFORD man, convicted by a Salisbury jury of hitting a man over the head with an iron bar, has been cleared and freed from a five-year jail sentence.

Terrance Reginald Neville (26) walked free from London's Criminal Appeal Court after three judges ruled his conviction could not be regarded as safe because of misdirections by Judge David MacLaren Webster, to the jury at Salisbury Crown Court in February.

Neville, of Salisbury Road, Bulford, was convicted of wounding Matthew Greenwood with intent to cause grievous bodily harm but cleared of wounding Mr Greenwood' brother, Christopher.

Criticising Judge MacLaren Webster' directions to the jury, Lord Justice Latham said: "It was a most bizarre performance by the judge. The summing up reads, I am afraid, in a florid and inappropriate way."

The case followed an incident outside a Salisbury nightclub in February last year, during which Mr Neville struck Matthew Greenwood over the head with an iron bar leaving him with injuries to his skull and right hand.

Mr Neville admitted causing the injuries but claimed he was acting in self-defence after being told a member of the Greenwood group was armed with a knife.

Lord Justice Latham said the jury should have been "clearly directed" that, if Mr Neville believed that to be the case, "then that was a fact to be taken into consideration when they assessed his behaviour later".