A DERBY man cleared of attacking a Latvian police officer has been told he will have to go back to the country next month to get the case against him officially dropped.

David Birkinshaw, 34, was last year acquitted of a stag weekend attack on the officer in the country's capital, Riga.

An appeal against that decision was dropped in May this year, but Mr Birkinshaw has now been told he will have to go back to the country yet again in October.

It is a journey Mr Birkinshaw, of Brackens Avenue, Alvaston, does not want to make.

He said the trial has already wrecked his life, leading to the breakdown of his relationship with fiancée Rachel Gee and costing him more than £20,000.

"This has completely ripped apart the last three years of my life," he told the Derby Telegraph.

"I've lost my fiancée through it. She did so much for me during the whole ordeal but the stress of it all and the pressure was just too much.

"I've been cleared so I didn't think I'd have to go back but, apparently, I have to be there in person for the case to be officially dropped. My solicitors have been trying to sort it out so I wouldn't have to go but it looks like I'll have to. I really don't want to have to go back to the country, it's an awful place.

"At the same time, I obviously want my name to be cleared properly. It's already cost me over £20,000 with travel and solicitors. Going over there again, with accommodation and flights and everything, will probably cost me another £800.

"I'm looking at ways to get the money back at the moment and I've kept my receipts, but I doubt I'll get all of that money back."

Matthew Neale, who was also accused of the attack, was not cleared at the May appeal and was told then he would have to return to Latvia in October in an effort to get the case dropped.

Mr Neale, of Stonebroom Walk, Shelton Lock, is due to marry his fiancée, Charelle, on September 11. Charelle was diagnosed with breast cancer in March this year and Mr Neale said he did not yet know if he would be able to go to the Baltic country to clear his name.

"Until I've spoken to the solicitor, I don't know what's happening," he said.

Mr Birkinshaw and Mr Neale were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer during a stag weekend in Latvia in June 2008.

A European warrant was issued for their arrest and both men postponed their weddings. In 2009, they were sent to Riga's Central Prison where they spent more than 10 weeks awaiting trial.

The trial in October was postponed soon after it got under way and it was not until November that the men were cleared. However, those celebrations were short-lived when the prosecution solicitors appealed against the acquittal.

They were about to board a plane in March to go to Latvia for the appeal hearing when they were called to say it had been postponed.

Mr Birkinshaw waited until May to find out the charges had been dropped.