A JURY took just 10 minutes to clear an accountant of assaulting police officers at a Bolton Wanderers football match.

The family and friends of James Edward Hall gasped and Hall thanked the jury when they returned a verdict of not guilty.

Hall had been hit by police batons during crowd trouble after the Wanderers had been beaten by Blackburn Rovers on February 23 last year.

He said he was struck twice by a police baton on the arm and leg after he questioned why they had let a steward hit a teenager being thrown out of the game.

The court was told how he was then chased and arrested and held in an armlock while one of the officers stuck his hand inside his mouth and pulled his cheek with great force.

Hall said the pain had been indescribable and he thought that his cheek was going to be ripped from his face.

Then, after he was taken to a holding cell, Hall claimed his testicles were squeezed and his head banged into the wall.

But Hall said that the atmosphere changed almost instantly when he told them he was an accountant.

Hall was part of the crowd which became aggressive after the Wanderers and Blackburn match on February 23 last year.

A section of fans had taunted and confronted the police on the ground's south-eastern concourse forcing frightened officers to draw their batons.

Hall aged 29, of Hughes Street, Halliwell, was acquitted at Bolton Crown Court after a three-day trial.

He had faced charges of violent disorder and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He denied the charges from the outset.

The court heard that part of the crowd threw missiles, including coins and bottles, at the officers who were forced to draw their batons to control the crowd.