Rapper Bugzy Malone has been cleared of unlawfully punching two men.
The popular Manchester-born grime artist fractured their jaws with single blows shortly after his hysterical girlfriend phoned him to say three men were breaking into their house.
Malone, 30, said he drove to his former home in Ramsbottom, near Bury, braced for a “volatile situation” as he feared for the safety of his then partner, Miami McKenzie, and his mother Mavis, who were inside the property.
A friend also called him to say the house was “being done over”, Manchester Crown Court heard.
As he approached the property he said he saw his friend with two men in “what was clearly a confrontation”.
He ran over and hit out with a “reflex” punch to one of the men who he said had lunged towards him, and said he then struck the other who made a “sharp movement” in his direction with clenched fists.
The Crown argued Malone, real name Aaron Davies, did not act in self-defence and angrily struck out in a sense of justified revenge after he wrongly believed they were the intruders.
The prosecution said both men were “sitting ducks” as the first did not see the “sucker punch” coming from the trained boxer and the second was punched while Malone’s friend held him.
Jurors took less than four hours to find Malone, now based in London, not guilty of two counts of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The court heard the “unlikely” backdrop to the events on September 9 2018 was the town’s annual black pudding-throwing festival.
A “terrified” teenage girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, rang her parents at the festival, asking them to pick her up from nearby Nuttall Park after saying she and her friends had been followed by Malone who had driven his car in an “intimidating manner”.
She said a young male in their group had earlier climbed on to a wall at Malone’s house and peered over the front gates and shouted the musician’s name.
Her father decided to visit Malone to get his version of events and was joined by a family friend and the boy’s father.
The boy’s father threw a brick at the gates before forcing his way into the courtyard of the property, and the other two men later walked off before they came across Malone returning home.
The jury was told the boy’s father was later prosecuted and convicted of causing criminal damage.
Malone, who starred in Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film The Gentlemen, denied chasing the youngsters in his car and said his intention was to “motivate them” to stay away from his property which he had just moved into.
Reading a statement while standing with Malone outside court, the rapper’s solicitor Lachlan Nisbet said: “Bugzy would like to thank his family and friends and everyone who has supported him resisting these charges.
“From difficult beginnings Bugzy has worked hard to make a success of himself. Like anyone else he has the right to protect himself, his home and his family if strangers intrude on his property.
“In this instance, faced with distraught family members, Bugzy did no more than the minimum necessary to defend himself and to secure the safety of his family home.
“Bugzy is grateful to the judge and all of the jury members who took the time to consider properly all the facts and to reach a considered verdict from the evidence.
“Bugzy has worked hard to make sure these charges have not diverted him from his work and career. Now that the trial is over Bugzy is looking forward to his UK tour being his core focus.”
