Sunderland assault charge dropped against Jordan Towers
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Jordan Towers, 33, convicted jointly of the murder of Kevin Johnson in 2007, was alleged to have assaulted a woman in the city in June.
Towers, of Percy Terrace South, Hendon, denied the allegation and appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to be tried.
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Hide AdBut he walked free after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) admitted it had failed to pass its evidence to his defence team on time.
Towers was aged 16 when implicated under the joint enterprise law of murder after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Mr Johnson, 22, was set upon outside his Pennywell home by Towers, Dean Curtis, then 19, and Tony Hawkes, 17.
He had confronted them after hearing rowdiness and was stabbed through the heart with a blade moments later.
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Hide AdProsecutors could not say who delivered the fatal blow, but it was established it had not been Towers.
He was jailed for a minimum of 13 years but freed in 2020, a year early, for good behaviour.
Curtis was ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years, while Hawkes was given a jail term of at least 16 years.
At his new court hearing, the CPS admitted its mistake in not serving its evidence, which was four months overdue.
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Hide AdA representative said she could not explain why the blunder had been allowed to happen.
John Williams, defending, revealed he had yet to receive the necessary documentation.
District Judge Zoe Passfield told Towers the charge of assault by beating against him was dismissed and he was free to leave the court.