Jones assault charges dropped

ASSAULT and theft charges laid in South Africa against actor and former soccer star Vinnie Jones have been dropped, police said yesterday.

Separate allegations of assault lodged against Jones by three women following a late-night party in Cape Town last Friday were still being investigated.

Jones is in the city filming an adventure movie and has denied all allegations, including one of indecent assault.

The assault and theft charges, laid on Monday by a 25-year-old man from Soweto who claimed to be Jones’ driver, were dropped on Wednesday.

The driver had alleged Jones stole his camera and assaulted him in Cape Town on the night of the party.

Police spokeswoman Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said the Soweto resident had withdrawn his complaint against Jones.

Investigations were continuing into assault allegations made by three Cape Town revellers, two sisters and a friend.

Jones, a former Wales and Wimbledon soccer player turned actor, has instructed his legal representative, Zaynad Mayet, not to disclose details of the alleged incident to the media.

It was reported last weekend that Stefane Loots, Leanne Loots and Catherine Taylor were at the home of a mutual friend in Fresnaye and an intoxicated Jones swore at one woman, sexually assaulted another woman and “almost drowned” a third.

Jones, star of the 1998 hit movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, arrived in South Africa last week to play a part in the action-adventure film Ultimatum, which is being shot in Cape Town.

Mayet said on Tuesday that Jones was “very distressed by the allegations, and was suffering emotionally as a result”.

She warned: “Before drawing any conclusions it is important to remember that another high-profile British visitor recently faced similar allegations.”

South African prosecutors dismissed a complaint of indecent assault last year against Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United soccer manager.