Manchester United: 3 cleared in Rooney agent case

Three men were cleared today of blackmailing football agent Paul Stretford after it emerged he had misled the court.

John Hyland, Christopher Bacon and Anthony Bacon were on trial at Warrington Crown Court accused of trying to intimidate Mr Stretford into sharing the money he made by representing Wayne Rooney.

The prosecution decided on Monday to offer no further evidence after it became clear that Mr Stretford had made false statements while giving his evidence last week.

He told the jury that he had not represented Rooney before December 2002, when the youngster was still represented by his original agent, Peter McIntosh.

But two documents were disclosed over the weekend which showed that Mr Stretford had poached the striker by September 2002.

Sportinglife