Republic of Ireland footballer Jeff Hendirck has been found not guilty of violent disorder.

He had been accused of pulling a man out of a taxi near Krystle nightclub in Dublin almost four years ago.

However, his friend and co-accused has been found guilty.

This four-day trial centred on events following a night out in Krystle nightclub in Dublin on October 12th 2013.

Ireland had played Germany a few hours beforehand in a World Cup qualifier and lost but Jeff Hendrick wasn’t playing as he was injured.

The then 21-year-old went out with a few friends to Krystle nightclub where a man called Darren McDermott was also out socialising.

Mr McDermot claimed he was mixing with some of Mr Hendrick's friends when all of a sudden the footballer’s attitude changed and he became so aggressive that bouncers kicked him out.

Mr McDermott then claimed he got into a taxi on Harcourt Street and Jeff Hendrick pulled him out of it and a group of men then chased and assaulted him. He suffered three fractures to his jaw.

But lawyers for Jeff Hendrick argued that Mr McDermott had been a menace that night

He had been slagging the Irish soccer team saying they were 'crap and useless', and Mr Hendrick had asked him to 'eff off'.

The judge had told the jury that 'many of us like Premier League footballers and many of us don’t', but Jeff Hendrick deserved a fair and impartial trial.

After just under 30 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a not guilty verdict.

However the jurors found Mr Hendrick’s friend and co-accused guilty of violent disorder.

Jonathon Doran of Kilmore Close in Artane in Dublin had admitted to gardai that he had chased Mr McDermott and sat on him but said he was just trying to be the hard man.