A TEENAGER accused of breaking his friend's jaw after a night out in Manchester has been found not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm.

In a three-day trial at Bolton Crown Court a jury heard how 19-year-old Theo Samuels had been to the O2 Ritz in Manchester with Lewis Jeffrey and Georgie Isherwood.

But 20-year-old Mr Jeffrey did not have any identification on him and so left to come back to Bolton.

In the early hours of the morning the three youths all ended up at a friend's flat in Ralph Street, Halliwell.

Mr Jeffrey claimed that Samuels, of Lowndes Street, Bolton, ordered him outside and punched him in the face.

He needed surgery to insert a metal plate in his jaw.

But Samuels, who was dating Mr Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend at the time, told the court that Jeffrey was already hurt when he turned up at the flat on December 10 last year.

Samuels, who works as a panel beater, said Mr Jeffery claimed he had been "jumped" in Bolton town centre by a "crackhead" who had asked him for a cigarette. Samuels told the court that he did not know why he had been accused.