Nine British soldiers have been acquitted of starting a mass brawl in a bar in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.

The defendants were all from the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, based at Dhekelia, in the east of the island.

They had been celebrating finishing tours of Iraq and Afghanistan when a fight broke out in the Bedrock Inn.

All pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from grievous and actual bodily harm to breach of the peace.

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One soldier, Darren Mason, 28, from Manchester, suffered a fractured skull.

Not guilty

The Bedrock Inn bar is "out of bounds" for military personnel because of previous violent incidents.

The nine servicemen went on trial at Famagusta District Court in Paralimni.

Lance Corporal William Sewell, 21, from Manchester was acquitted of grievous bodily harm, malicious damage and breach of the peace.

Lance Corporals David Ramage, 21, from Manchester, and Daniel Brayne, 22, from Birmingham, were cleared of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, along with malicious damage and breach of the peace.

Damien Heywood, 27, Andy Evans, 21, both Lance Corporals, and Dean Rushton, 21 - all from Manchester - Gary Farrell, 23, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Christopher Wenham, 19, from London, and Ashley Hughes, 19, from Birmingham, were found not guilty of malicious damage and breach of the peace.

Some 3,650 British personnel and civillian workers are based in Cyprus at military bases on the island.

(BBC)

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