A JURY took just eight minutes to return a verdict of not guilty against an Atherton man involved in a fight outside a popular Bolton club.

John Gordon Rushton fought with Jason Craven who was found behind the Atlantis nightclub unconscious. He was later found to be suffering from a fractured skull.

Yesterday the jury at Bolton Crown Court cleared Rushton within eight minutes of being sent from the court by Judge John Roberts.

Rushton, aged 20, of Leigh Road, Atherton, had denied assaulting Craven causing grievous bodily harm during his trial at Bolton Crown Court.

Medical evidence said that Craven had bruising and swelling around his eye and had a fracture on the left side of his skull which could have been caused by a blunt object like a fist or by banging his head on the ground.

The court heard earlier that a taxi driver looking for a fare had driven round the back of the club and seen a man without a shirt lying motionless on the ground with blood dripping from his mouth.

He was stopped by a girl who asked if she could get in the taxi. She seemed concerned and as he drove her home she told him about her boyfriend disappearing.

He asked her for a description and told her the man he had seen behind the club was probably her boyfriend. He agreed to take her back to the club and found that Craven was being taken to hospital.

Craven was kept in hospital for several days while he was treated for the fracture to his skull until he was discharged for rehabilitation.