One of three police officers accused of lying about the existence of CCTV footage of an arrest will not stand trial after a judge dismissed the charge against him today.

PC Brett Wright, 40, was cleared of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

But the case will proceed against PC Geoffrey Keen, 31, and 37-year-old PC Daniel Short.

Canterbury-based Wright, of Manley Close, Dover; Short, of Freshwater Close, Herne Bay; and Keen, of Byllan Road, Dover, had all applied in July to have the charge dismissed.

It relates to the arrest of shoplifter Jack Harbour, who was detained in a holding room at Debenhams in Canterbury High Street on July 11 last year.

A CCTV camera recorded the arrest and the footage, which was leaked online three months later.

The officers were alleged between July 10 and October 31 to have failed to "retain and reveal" that CCTV was available from the holding room.

The charge adds "statements were then completed which led to a person being exposed to a risk of prosecution with intent to pervert the course of justice".

Harbour, 23, from Murston, Sittingbourne, was later convicted of theft - but a charge of assaulting PC Wright by spitting at him was dropped.

The three officers were suspended from duties in October.

Judge Jeremy Carey ruled at Maidstone Crown Court there was insufficient evidence against PC Wright to support the charge.