A TEENAGER accused of stabbing a man in the street has been cleared.

Emman Riasat, of Outram Road, Oxford, was found not guilty of one count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and another of unlawful wounding.

Prosecutors claimed Mr Riasat stabbed Azher Hussain with a large pen knife while outside a house Nowell Road, Rose Hill, at about 4pm on April 12 last year.

But at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Judge Peter Ross dismissed the case after the account given in the witness box by the victim's wife, Sadia Rashid, was so different to her initial police statement that it 'undermined' Mr Hussain's evidence.

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Ms Rashid's initial statement offered a different account of the incident to Mr Hussain's, but the second was much more similar to her husband's.

Judge Ross said: "On its own, this would not necessarily mean I would withdraw the case.

"But the only way this change could come about was from her husband, which not only undermines her account but her husband's.

"It is so utterly undermining that this is a case where having assessed the evidence it's so self contradicting that Mr Hussain's evidence is destroyed by the account that emerged from his wife."

Upon clearing Mr Riasat, Judge Ross told the teenager: "If you're involved in incidents with knives, the consequences will be serious, whether you're carrying a knife or are the victim.

"You're young and you have an opportunity to walk away."

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The three-day trial started on Tuesday and saw Mr Hussain take to the witness box on Wednesday.

He told jurors he saw Mr Riasat standing across the street talking on a mobile phone and he went over to find out what he was doing there.

Speaking of the attack, he continued: “[Riasat] has seen me coming out and then he was coming towards me.

“I said to him ‘what are you doing here’ and stood away. Without hesitation he said ‘I will f***ing show you’ and he pulled out the knife from his jacket with his right hand.”

He then described the blade being ‘swung’ at him during a brief scuffle before he held his arm up to defend himself resulting in the the knife striking him, causing an injury to his bicep.

Prosecutor Alexandra Bull did not appeal Judge Ross's verdict and the jury was discharged.