CHARGES against a Royston man who was accused of assault after attempting a citizen s arrest have been dropped. Roland Digby, of Burns Road, Royston, had been summoned to court after he tackled youths who were throwing apples at his house. But today David

CHARGES against a Royston man who was accused of assault after attempting a citizen's arrest have been dropped.

Roland Digby, of Burns Road, Royston, had been summoned to court after he tackled youths who were throwing apples at his house.

But today David Robinson, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for Hertfordshire, announced that all charges against the courier had been dropped.

Mr Robinson said: "The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has today discontinued the case against Roland Digby, who was charged by Hertfordshire Police with assault following an incident in which Mr Digby attempted to make a citizen's arrest.

"The CPS initially agreed with this charge after reviewing a summary of the evidence. Following a review of all of the evidence, the reviewing lawyer concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove that Mr Digby used unreasonable and excessive force or that he was acting unlawfully.

"Reasonable force can be used in self-defence, defence of property, prevention of crime or when making a lawful arrest. In the circumstances of this case, Mr Digby has a legitimate defence to the charge of assault. With this in mind, the CPS has concluded that there is no realistic prospect of conviction and discontinued the case."

When The Crow broke the news to Mr Digby, he said: "I'm relieved and pleased that common sense has prevailed. It should never have got this far in the first place."

For the full story, see Thursday's Crow.