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https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news...ittle-18875680
Regardless of the merits or otherwise in this case, something has stuck in the minds of the reporters ( and/or perhaps the judge ) :
A man who spent three years in prison for sexually abusing a little girl has been cleared of any wrongdoing and set free.
Andrew Dixon, then 39, was found guilty after a trial in March 2017 of two sexual assaults on a child under the age of 13.
At his sentencing, defence lawyers said Mr Dixon, of Grasmere Road, Formby, "vehemently" denied any attacks on the child.
Mr Dixon - who had no previous convictions - laughed in the dock when the girl's mum described how she and her daughter were affected.
He shook his head and expressed disbelief to supporters in the public gallery, before crying when he was jailed for nine years.
The ECHO can now report that Mr Dixon had his two convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal in London on June 23 this year.
It is understood that medical evidence - key to the prosecution case - was successfully challenged by defence lawyers.
On June 24, top judges ordered that Mr Dixon be retried at Liverpool Crown Court and arraigned within two months.
However, on July 24, prosecutors decided to offer no evidence against Mr Dixon on both counts of sexual assault.
As a result, Judge Andrew Menary, QC, entered formal not guilty verdicts against the now 42-year-old.
Mr Dixon was designated "an offender of particular concern" when jailed for nine years, with an additional year on licence, on March 29, 2017.
This type of sentence meant that he would have had to spend at least four and a half years in prison, before he could apply for parole.
And he would only have been released before the end of the nine years if a parole board decided he was no longer a risk to the public.
Mr Dixon was also told to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and restraining order indefinitely.
These orders have now been revoked, but last month prosecutors applied for a "restraining order on acquittal", on behalf of the girl's mum.
For goodness sake! - If you find yourself in court, listen to your legal team and control yourself. This behaviour clearly did not go down well at the original trial and may well have come across as a callous disregard or even a perverted enjoyment of the suffering of the victim. You don't know how a jury might see the trial. They don't know what you know.
When you are falsely accused of not being able to control yourself,... try not to play into the prosecution's hands.
Regardless of the merits or otherwise in this case, something has stuck in the minds of the reporters ( and/or perhaps the judge ) :
A man who spent three years in prison for sexually abusing a little girl has been cleared of any wrongdoing and set free.
Andrew Dixon, then 39, was found guilty after a trial in March 2017 of two sexual assaults on a child under the age of 13.
At his sentencing, defence lawyers said Mr Dixon, of Grasmere Road, Formby, "vehemently" denied any attacks on the child.
Mr Dixon - who had no previous convictions - laughed in the dock when the girl's mum described how she and her daughter were affected.
He shook his head and expressed disbelief to supporters in the public gallery, before crying when he was jailed for nine years.
The ECHO can now report that Mr Dixon had his two convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal in London on June 23 this year.
It is understood that medical evidence - key to the prosecution case - was successfully challenged by defence lawyers.
On June 24, top judges ordered that Mr Dixon be retried at Liverpool Crown Court and arraigned within two months.
However, on July 24, prosecutors decided to offer no evidence against Mr Dixon on both counts of sexual assault.
As a result, Judge Andrew Menary, QC, entered formal not guilty verdicts against the now 42-year-old.
Mr Dixon was designated "an offender of particular concern" when jailed for nine years, with an additional year on licence, on March 29, 2017.
This type of sentence meant that he would have had to spend at least four and a half years in prison, before he could apply for parole.
And he would only have been released before the end of the nine years if a parole board decided he was no longer a risk to the public.
Mr Dixon was also told to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and restraining order indefinitely.
These orders have now been revoked, but last month prosecutors applied for a "restraining order on acquittal", on behalf of the girl's mum.
For goodness sake! - If you find yourself in court, listen to your legal team and control yourself. This behaviour clearly did not go down well at the original trial and may well have come across as a callous disregard or even a perverted enjoyment of the suffering of the victim. You don't know how a jury might see the trial. They don't know what you know.
When you are falsely accused of not being able to control yourself,... try not to play into the prosecution's hands.