A judge has dismissed a harassment charge against an activist after his accuser decided to stay away from court to scatter her mother's ashes in Greece.
Raja Miah, 50, had pleaded not guilty to a single charge of harassment without violence, namely that on four occasions he posted derogatory online comments about Gail Hadfield-Grainger between October 18, 2020, and November 11, 2021.
At Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Thursday morning, Mr Miah's supporters cheered in the public gallery after a judge dismissed a 'hear-say' application for Ms Hadfield-Gainger's statement to be read out in her absence during the trial.
The decision prompted prosecutors to offer no evidence in the case. READ NEXT: Tragedy as man's body pulled from sea in Blackpool District Judge Jane Hamilton told Mr Miah: "I dismiss the matter against you and you are free to go." Ms Hadfield-Grainger became a campaigner following the death of her partner Anthony Grainger, who was unarmed when he was when he was shot in the chest by a single bullet from a Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine gun fired by a police marksman known only as Q9 in March 2012.
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