THE conviction of a Great Harwood man for assault was safe, despite jurors seeing a witness in the case being arrested immediately after giving evidence, Appeal Court judges in London ruled.

They said that the conviction of Thomas Henry Smith, 26, of Meadow Street, was safe because the 16-year-old witness's criminal background had been adequately spelled out to the jury by the judge.

Smith was convicted at Burnley Crown Court of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed for a year on September 1

But yesterday Lord Justice Kennedy said that, although the arrest of the witness for unrelated matters should not ideally have been seen by the jurors, it would not have prejudiced Smith's case, as his lawyers had claimed.

Smith was picked out at an identity parade by three people, including the teenager and Smith's victim, Philip Cocker, said Lord Justice Kennedy, who was sitting with Mr Justice Curtis and Mr Justice Forbes.

He said Mr Cocker was kicked in the face at his home in Bow Meadow Lane, Great Harwood, when he tried to intervene in a row between Smith and the teenager.

Dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Kennedy said the case was conducted fairly and it was finally left to the jury to decide whether the witness could be believed.