Man cleared over Winehouse husband bribery plot

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A former bar owner seriously injured in an assault involving the husband of troubled singer Amy Winehouse was cleared Wednesday of accepting a £200,000 ($400,000) bribe to save his attackers from jail.

James King, 36, was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice by a London court jury on Wednesday, the UK's Press Association reported. King suffered a broken cheekbone after being attacked by Winehouse's husband Blake Fielder-Civil and his friend Michael Brown at a bar in east London.

Both Fielder-Civil and Brown have pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on King and to perverting the course of justice.

Two more men, Anthony Kelly and James Kennedy, accused of being part of a plot to bribe King, have also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. All four men face jail terms and are due to be sentenced at a later date.

It was claimed that Winehouse's money was used to bankroll the proposed bribe but there is no evidence to suggest the singer had any knowledge of the plot.

King told the jury he had been bullied into withdrawing his statement against Fielder-Civil and Brown last November after being intimidated by Kelly, who he said had told him he was part of a firm of gangsters that wanted the charges against the pair to go away, PA reported.

The story was exposed when Kelly and Kennedy attempted to sell CCTV images of the original attack to the Daily Mirror. They also made secret recordings for the newspaper which later went to the police.