A MAN who was jailed for his part in the shooting of a five-year-old Blackburn boy has been cleared of threatening to take revenge on the child’s father.

Craig Hollinrake was accused of telling John Casey, the father of young Dillon Hull, that he was going to shoot him because he was a 'grass'.

The charges were yesterday dismissed by a jury at Manchester Crown Court, who took just over an hour to find him not guilty.

The incident was alleged to have happened at the Ashburner Street market in Bolton after there had been a chance encounter between the two men.

Mr Casey had earlier testified against Hollinrake, who was convicted of conspiracy to murder and jailed for 16 years in 1998. Hollinrake, who was released after 11 years, was alleged to have said to have approached Mr Casey at the market and said: “I’m going to shoot you.

"I’m going to put you in a wheelchair, you grass.”

Mr Casey, a convicted drug dealer, had been on a witness protection scheme, but left in 2005 and returned to Bolton to work on his father’s fruit stall at the market.

He later told the court that he could not remember being threatened by Hollinrake at the market or anything else that happened on May 18.

Hollinrake, 37, whose address cannot be revealed for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty to threatening to take revenge.

He admitted that he disliked Mr Casey, who was previously known as John Bates, and admitted calling him a grass, but maintained that he did not threaten to shoot him.

Dillon Hull was shot dead in August 1997 in Bolton when a gunman tried to shoot Mr Bates as he walked hand-in-hand with his son.

Dillon had moved to Bolton from Blackburn with his family months before his death.

Hollinrake’s defence barrister, Nick Ross, said on his behalf: “He is relieved and grateful to the jury, and glad that his repeated denials have been vindicated.

“His only regret is that the case was deemed to be necessary and that he spent six months on remand in custody.”