Latvia pair should not have to suffer further cost and anxiety after their shambles of a trial

SANDWICHED between British media colleagues inside the tiny Latvian court room, we made up our minds as to the innocence of Matthew Neale and David Birkinshaw within the first hour.

We looked on as witnesses – or at least those who bothered to turn up – were picked apart by the defence for giving evidence that conflicted with earlier statements made to police.

We had to stop ourselves from giggling as the police officer who was allegedly beaten by the pair said he had no injuries because he was a boxer as a youngster.

"There is no way they can be found guilty," one media colleague said. "I can't believe they've been dragged over here on the basis of what has been said so far," said another.

Our expectations of Matthew and David being found not guilty were met following three court appearances spread across two weeks when the judge acquitted them after deliberating for just 20 minutes.

They, along with their families, believed their Latvian nightmare was over.

Having sat beside them and listened to the full case which was brought against them, I believed it was too. But, as the Derby Telegraph revealed yesterday, their celebrations and expectations of being able to get on with their lives have been short-lived.

Prosecution solicitors have appealed against the court's verdict, meaning both men will have to travel back to Latvia early next year to clear their names again. The men have been told that the prosecution cannot bring any new evidence to the case, therefore they will be tried on exactly the same evidence that was produced during their first appearance.

But what are the facts?

We know that Matthew and David were arrested in June last year. They were in the country to celebrate the impending wedding of Lee Graves, son of Alvaston ward councillor Alan Graves.

They were accused of beating up a Latvian policeman at a bar in the capital Riga.

They went to court and believed the case had been thrown out. They flew back to Derby, but in October were astonished to start getting letters from Latvia saying they needed to return to face trial.

Despite no evidence being heard at an extradition hearing in London, a judge agreed both men should be extradited to stand trial.

Riga's tough Central Prison awaited them, which is where they spent 10 weeks on 23-hour lock-down waiting for a trial date to be set.

When the hearing finally began, the weakness of the case against them started to unfold.

On the first day, alleged victim Municipal Police promotion officer Juris Circens told the court he was butted, kicked and punched five times outside Riga's Black Cat Bar. The court was told he had turned up at the bar after being called there by a member of the public, who had noticed a stand-off between a group of English and Latvian men.

Matthew and David's Latvian solicitor, Jelena Kvjatkovska, said there were differences in what the officer was saying in court and in three statements he made following the incident.

CCTV footage showed Mr Circens holding Matthew and pulling him to the floor, but it did not show anyone hitting the officer. David was seen on CCTV footage leaving the bar. He was arrested afterwards by Mr Circens.

CCTV also showed Matthew leaving the scene with his friend, Simon Barcz. Matthew was later arrested at his hotel.

When asked by Ms Kvjatkovska why he had no bruising after being allegedly assaulted, the officer said it was because he used to do boxing.

After hearing two days of evidence, the trial was adjourned for one week because four Latvian witnesses failed to turn up.

But when proceedings were restarted a week later, only one of those witnesses appeared. Two told the court they had health problems and one witness, a security guard at the bar, did not give an excuse.

In court on the final day, the court heard the officer was seeking £40,000 in loss of earnings and medical bills.

The judge cleared both men of any wrongdoing and they were each allowed to return to their families in Derby.

In the run-up to Matthew and David being sent to Latvia, I spoke to a former KGB spy who worked in Latvia, but now lives in London, who told me that the justice system under which they were to be tried in Latvia was "totally corrupt".

And during my journey from my hotel to Riga International Airport following the case, my taxi driver told further stories of corruption within the country – with police officers stopping cabs believed to be speeding and forcing them to hand over cash to avoid prosecution.

Following the case, commentators in the Baltic state told the Telegraph that they believed the pair were forced to stand trial to act as "scapegoats" for the behaviour of rowdy British tourists that have visited the country.

The whole Latvian episode has caused nothing but disruption to the lives of 35-year-old Matthew, of Stonebroom Walk, Shelton Lock, and David, 33, of Brackens Avenue, Alvaston.

The two men and their fiancees, Charelle Neale and Rachel Gee, have again had to put the brakes on plans to get married in the near future, having already spent £13,000 each on legal fees.

And with Christmas just around the corner, they are now facing even further financial uncertainty, with them having to meet the costs of travel to Latvia and accommodation while in the country for the new trial.

Having spent 10 weeks in prison awaiting trial and enduring the lottery of what seemed to be, on the face of it, a shambles of a court case, surely they have suffered enough?