Prosecutors have dropped an assault charge against ex-Manchester United footballer Nicky Butt.
Butt, 45, was accused of beating his estranged wife Shelley Barlow last April and was due to go on trial next week but the case has been discontinued after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) offered no evidence.
It is understood Barlow did not want to go into the witness box to give evidence against her husband.
Butt had pled not guilty to common assault and causing £800 of criminal damage to Barlow’s
mobile phone on April 16 last year.
A CPS spokesman said yesterday: “Mr Butt has agreed to accept a caution for criminal damage.”
