Raheem Sterling trial: Live updates as Liverpool footballer found NOT GUILTY

Raheem Sterling faces a trial at Liverpool Magistrates' Court today, where he is accused of attacking his girlfriend Shana Halliday.
Sterling denies the charge of common assault and the trial is due to start at 2pm.
These are the Updates from the court throughout the afternoon.

4:07 pm

That's it from the live updates. Thanks for following the case with us today

4:06 pm

Raheem Sterling has walked out of court after being found not guilty, as the case against him collapses

4:04 pm

Sterling formally found not guilty.
Defence applies for a costs order on behalf of Sterling

4:02 pm

The Magistrates have decided Miss Halliday is not a hostile witness. Miss Drysdale said that in light of that there is no realistic prospect of conviction and they will offer no evidence.

3:47 pm

The Magistrates deciding to allow Miss Halliday to be treated as a hostile witness would be a draconian step, says defence solicitor

3:41 pm

He says the witness has given a full account.
He describes this as "straw clutching exercise" by the prosecution.

3:38 pm

Stuart Driver QC, defending, says the witness is not hostile but her evidence has "disappointed" the prosecution.

3:35 pm

The magistrates have returned to the courtroom.
Prosecutor Miss Drysdale is making an application for the witness to be treated as hostile.
This means the prosecutor would be able to prove the witness had made inconsistent statements.

3:15 pm

Still all quiet in the court while we want to see what happens. Raheem Sterling is out of the courtroom as he cannot see Miss Halliday when she moves from behind the screen

2:57 pm

Prosecutor Miss Drysdale has asked the bench to retire while the Crown considers the case.

2:54 pm

As Miss Halliday is giving her evidence, Raheem Sterling has remained looking down at the floor in his seat

2:51 pm

She said she called police and said she'd had an argument with her boyfriend and he had dragged her out of the car.

2:50 pm

He got out of the car and went round to the passenger side to tell her to get out.
She said he was pulling her.

She eventually got out of the car.
She said he pushed her and said "I'm done".

2:49 pm

Apologies for the bold text - it is a quirk of the system sometimes, not being added for emphasis

2:48 pm

Then they drove back to Liverpool and the argument continued.

She described the argument as "name calling"

She said they both continued to "push and shove".

She said they got to the house and he told her to get out f the car. She was about a five minute walk from the house,

She said she wasn't' getting out of the car because it was raining.

She said Sterling was leaning over her to try and open the car door

2:46 pm

She said she started the pushing.
She said they "just kept arguing" and Sterling then told her to get out of the car at a retail park near Warrington.
The car was still moving when he was asking her to get out.

"He was telling me to get out of the car"

2:43 pm

Miss Halliday is asked what happened after the argument
She said "We were just shouting at each other"
Then she said they got aggressive towards each other.
She said both of them were "pushing and shoving".

2:41 pm

She said they carried on arguing and the argument started about 10 minutes after they left the restaurant.

2:40 pm

Miss Halliday is remaining silent when asked what happened othe way back from the meal
She said "We had a heated argument"
She said the argument was over a text on his phone

2:39 pm

To clarify, Sterling and the magistrates just left court while Miss Halliday was brought in and made her way behind the screen.

2:38 pm

The magistrates and Sterling are back in and Miss Halliday is being sworn in.

She has confirmed she was in a relationship with Sterling on August 8 and they had planned to go for a meal in Manchester

2:34 pm

Raheem Sterling and the magistrates have now left the courtroom while Miss Halliday is called to give evidence

2:32 pm

Raheem Sterling drove off, but then returned to the address, where he was arrested.
The Crown case is that Sterling was the aggressor.

2:31 pm

Sterling says Miss Halliday assaulted him in the car.
He told her to get out of the car when they pulled up at Torpoint Close and when she refused he "took her out of the car" grabbing her by the waist.

2:30 pm

They say he assaulted her in the vehicle. They stopped at a service station and when the journey continued she was assaulted again.
They stopped at Torpoint Close in Liverpool where she got out of the car and rang the police.
The case will hear evidence from Miss Halliday and a recording of her 999 call.

2:29 pm

The magistrates have just entered the courtroom.
Raheem Sterling has confirmed his name, age and address.
Prosecutor Sara Drysdale says Sterling and Miss Halliday had an argument while at a meal in Manchester on August 8.

2:23 pm

                    

Shana Halliday. Picture: Dave The Pap

 

2:23 pm

Sterling has just arrived in the courtroom.
He's wearing a black suit.
Court staff are arranging a screen which Miss Halliday will give her evidence behind

2:18 pm

Everyone is in the new courtroom now, we're just waiting for the case to start

2:12 pm

Here is Raheem Sterling arriving at court earlier today

                         

Raheem Sterling arrives at court today

 

2:05 pm

The Raheem Sterling case has now been moved to another courtroom, to cater for the numbers of people who are here

2:01 pm

Raheem Sterling denies a charge of common assault, brought by his girlfriend Shana Halliday.
The case is scheduled to last for the rest of this afternoon, although it is slightly held up as I said.

1:53 pm

At present, court officials are trying to find enough seats for the press.
Sterling arrived at court about 1.20pm.

1:50 pm

Welcome to Liverpool Magistrates court for the trial of Raheem Sterling. He's accused of beating girlfriend Shana Halliday. there's a slight delay with the case