Man and woman are cleared of murdering off-duty ambulance worker Sheldon Flanighan in Cramlington

Cramlington man Sheldon Flanighan died after being knocked down outside The Bay Horse on April 1.

Two people accused of murdering an ambulance worker and trying to kill another person outside a pub have been cleared of the charges.

Sheldon Flanighan, 55, was hit by a van following a disturbance inside the Bay Horse in Cramlington on the night of Saturday, April 1.

Despite the best efforts of medics, the dad-of-two, who was an ambulance care assistant, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A friend of Mr Flanighan was also seriously hurt in the incident and was taken to hospital.

Toby Kelly, 37, of Wansbeck Avenue, Blyth, David Fairclough, 32, of Emerson Road, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, and Shannon Wooden, 28, of Patterdale House, Blyth, were all charged with murder and attempted murder.

At Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday, Fairclough and Wooden – who appeared via video link from prison – both pleaded not guilty to both offences, after which Judge Penny Moreland said: "The Crown offers no evidence and invites me to enter not guilty verdicts.

"Those verdicts will be entered."

Kelly, who has pleaded not guilty to the same charges, faces trial on October 3.