TOWIE's Mark Wright cleared over club incident
The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright has been found not guilty of using threatening behaviour towards a man outside a nightclub. The reality TV heart-throb told police he "saw red" after hearing Tom Grantham, 21, say he was going to throw a brick through the window of Deuces Bar and Lounge, an Essex bar in which he had invested money. A court heard a tussle ensued but Wright, who has found fame thanks to the award-winning ITV2 show, claimed he only wanted to protect himself. The 24-year-old held his head in his hands as he was cleared at Redbridge Magistrates' Court in Essex, and appeared close to tears. The decision, read out by magistrate Glen Pierre, was applauded by members of his family sitting in the public gallery. After he was released from the dock, Wright, wearing a grey suit with a white shirt and black tie, embraced his grandfather in the courtroom. On Wednesday, Wright's friend Jack Tweed and his brother Lewis admitted common assault in relation to an attack on Mr Grantham on the night in question, January 3. They will be sentenced on August 16 at the same court. Wright had been "reduced to tears" by previous arson attacks on Deuces, the court heard. He and Tweed, the widower of Big Brother star Jade Goody, had invested a "substantial amount of money" into the refurbishment of the venue in Chigwell, Essex. Speaking outside the court, Wright said: "I appreciate the consideration of the court in clearing me of this charge. "I am now looking forward to putting this behind me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have stood by and believed in me."
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.