A second retrial of Reds' boss Patrick Cryne and three former directors of an IT firm would be 'money badly spent', a judge has said.
Barnsley FC owner Cryne, 62, the former chairman of healthcare software provider iSoft, was accused of spinning a web of lies in the published iSoft accounts, along with three of the company's former directors Timothy Whiston, 45, Stephen Graham, 49, and John Whelan, 46.
The three former directors appeared in court during a trial which started in April but Cryne was excused from appearing due to ill health.
However, on Monday all four men were cleared of 'cooking the books' to hoodwink investors after two trials costing the taxpayer millions of pounds failed to yield a single conviction.
Not guilty verdicts were formally entered against all four men.
Judge Anthony Leonard QC said: "This case began to unravel after a piece of unused material which was highly pertinent to the case resulted in the prosecution changing their stance in some important aspects of the case.
"To throw more money at this issue would be money badly spent."
After 'careful consideration' the Financial Conduct Authority decided it would not be in the public interest for a second retrial to be pursued.
Tracey McDermott, FCA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "This is of course a disappointing outcome. The problems that have arisen in this case result from a particularly unusual set of circumstances, which are unlikely to recur."
The four men were said to have deliberately included revenue from a multimillion pound NHS contract before the deal had been signed, transforming a 'thumping loss' into a 'highly respectable' profit.
