THE case has been dropped against a 15-year-old said to be involved in scuffle outside a Warndon convenience store in which a gang of teenagers kicked a man in the face.

Worcester magistrates decided there was insufficient evidence against the boy, who had pleaded not guilty to affray and who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He was alleged to have tried to goad Richard Trowbridge into a "one-on-one" fight outside Spar, in Cranham Drive.

When the trial started on Friday, May 9, the 21-year-old victim told the court that he had had to "restrain" the teenager, who would not let him pass, by grabbing his arm and pulling him to the floor.

Witnesses

"I was going to talk to him but his friends ran up and started kicking me in the head," he said.

But three of the witnesses, who appeared for the prosecution when the trial continued yesterday, said they had not seen the actual incident.

And magistrates said they were concerned about evidence given by an 11-year-old girl.

"She has elaborated and talked about the incident to others," the chairman of the magistrates said.

"We find that there is insufficient evidence for a conviction on affray if the trial continues."