Photographer Graham Mitchell has told how he is "completely in the dark" about what happens next following his re-arrest by Portuguese police for attempted murder - a crime that he was cleared of in 1995.

Portuguese judicial sources have revealed that a trial date for Mr Mitchell, from Canterbury, has been set for April 23.

The retrial, in front of three judges, could take place without Mr Mitchell being present.

Meanwhile he has a court hearing in London on April 20 which Mr Mitchell believes is to clarify the issue that the arrest warrant was for first degree murder, yet the alleged victim is still alive. He said it is not an extradition hearing.

Mr Mitchell and a friend Warren Tozer enjoyed a fishing holiday to Albufeira in the Algarve in May 1994.

The pair were arrested for an alleged assault on 26-year-old German tourist Andre Jorling, who was left paralysed from the waist down after falling from a wall.

The two men spent more than a year in custody until they were cleared at trial of attempting to murder Mr Jorling.

A year later Portugal's supreme court overturned the lower court's decision and ordered a retrial.

Despite a warrant being issued, the pair were not returned to Portugal.

A subsequent European Arrest Warrant was issued in December 2008, but it took until March this year before Mr Mitchell was arrested.

The former Scots Guardsman said: "The trial date of April 23 is speculative, I have had no official word from the authorities.

"It doesn't matter what the Portuguese say, a panel of judges showed moral fortitude and found us not guilty.

"The whole experience has been so painful, I am on medication for post traumatic stress disorder. I am completely in the dark, the rumour and supposition causes frustration, but I hope to know more after the hearing on April 20."

Kent MEP Nigel Farage has branded the arrest as "the most grotesque manifestation of the European Arrest Warrant to date".

MP Julian Brazier has also stepped into the international row over the attempts to extradite Mr Mitchell.