A DRUG user has been cleared of attacking a man in a taxi queue for no reason.

Mark Tapper, 24, a drain layer, was found not guilty of assaulting Jan Dickinson causing him actual bodily harm, after a two-day trial at Burnley Crown Court.

Tapper, of Mason Street, Colne, had denied the charge and claimed he had been hit first. He had earlier admitted possessing amphetamine and was fined £200 by assistant recorder Robert Warnock.

The jury had been told nightclubber Mr Dickinson was "laid out" by Tapper who was said to have gone across the road to the queue, looking as if he was going to hit somebody. Mr Dickinson suffered a bloody nose and went to hospital.

Tapper's counsel, Roger Baldwin, said Mr Dickinson had hit the defendant first and Tapper had injuries when he was at the police station later.

When police searched Tapper in the early hours after the alleged assault, a small lump of amphetamine was found on him.

The drug was wrapped in black plastic.

Mr Baldwin told the court Tapper had bought the wrap about two days before.

The drug happened to be in the defendant's trousers. He was a "very occasional, so-called recreational" user of the drug and had never been convicted of any drugs offences in the past.

The court could deal with Tapper by fining him.

Mr Baldwin added the defendant lived with his mother and was sub-contracted by a civil engineering firm, digging trenches and laying drains.

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