Chelsea stars cleared of brawl

Chelsea stars John Terry and Jody Morris were cleared this afternoon of involvement in a drunken brawl at a Knightsbridge club which ended with a bouncer allegedly being hit in the eye with a bottle.

Wimbledon star Desmond Byrne, however, was convicted of possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon and fined £2,000.

Terry, charged with the most serious offence of wounding and who would have faced certain jail and a probable end to his footballing career was cleared of all charges against him and Morris was cleared of a single charge of affray as the jury returned their verdicts at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court. There where triumphant shouts from the jury.

When the last verdict was announced Terry put his hands up to his face and appeared to burst into tears.

The jury preferred the footballers' version of what happened at the Wellington Club in Knightsbridge last January to that of bouncer Trevor Thirlwall who said his eye 'exploded in blood' after he was hit by a bottle wielded by Terry.

Mr Thirlwall had been accused of inventing his account in order to sell his story to pay off £70,000 he owed to a drug supplier after five kilos of heroin in his possession had been seized by the police.

Terry and Byrne, who earns £75,000 a year, claimed they had been attacked by Thirlwall, his professional boxer brother and another club bouncer and were acting only in self defence. Morris said he was simply not involved in the fracas.

The jury, specially selected to exclude supporters of premiership football teams, never learned of previous incidents involving the three footballers. Terry and Morris were both involved in disgraceful scenes in front of US tourists at the Post House Hotel at Heathrow the day after the 11 September attacks last year, when members of their group jeered and dropped their trousers.

Both were fined two weeks wages which were given to 11 September charities.

Morris has a previous conviction for affray after a drunken brawl and has been banned for drink driving.

Byrne had to leave Stockport County after being involved in a drunken fight in a nightclub with an associate of a leading Manchester gangster.

The two versions of what happened at the Wellington Club, as described by staff and by the footballers, bore little relation to each other. Morris denied spitting out his drink in the downstairs bar, abusing the manageress and taunting Mr Thirlwall: "I earn more in a week than you do in a year."

Byrne said he never abused and attacked staff. Terry said he hit Mr Thirlwall but only with his fist to defend himself.

Former England Under-21 player Terry, 21, denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon. Byrne, 21, also denied possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon and all three players denied affray. Byrne was also ordered to pay costs of £1,000.