[Source: 1News]
Prosecutors have dropped all charges against NRL players Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell, who were arrested after a night out in February.
Wighton had been celebrating his 30th birthday when he was removed from a Canberra nightclub.
The pair were subsequently charged with fighting in a public place.
Additionally, Wighton faced a charge for disregarding an exclusion order, while Mitchell was charged with affray and resisting police. Throughout the ordeal, both consistently asserted their innocence.
On Tuesday, Sergeant David Power, the highest-ranking police officer involved in their arrest, confessed to providing false testimony and lying under oath.
Power previously claimed he had removed the former Canberra player from Fiction nightclub after seeing him with “clenched fists, anger in his face and grabbing another man by the shirt in an aggressive manner”.
However, the evidence presented by Wighton’s attorney, Steve Boland, which comprised a CCTV footage timeline, forced Power to admit his “memory had failed” and what he said hadn’t happened.
Power later apologised to Wighton, saying, “Sorry, Jack, if that’s what happened mate, I thought I saw something different… I’m sorry.”
Unable to present further evidence, the prosecution saw their case fall apart on Wednesday morning, resulting in the dismissal of the charges.
The pair, who are cousins, embraced each other when Magistrate Jane Campbell dismissed the case.
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