The FA have released the following statement about Paul Stretford.
FA Statement
Friday, 12 May 2006.
The FA can confirm that it has now received the decision of His Honour Judge Hale, the trial judge from the case at Warrington Crown Court in October 2004, to whom The FA had written in order to request a referral in respect of Paul Stretford's conduct during the Warrington Crown Court trial.
His Honour Judge Hale declined to make the referral for the reason that Mr Stretford was not at that time given an opportunity by the Crown Prosecution Service to explain the apparent discrepancies between his witness statement, the evidence that he had given in court and the contents of certain documents.
In light of this decision and the recent judgment in the High Court on Meadow v General Medical Council, The FA has withdrawn the two E3 charges against Mr Stretford, pending the outcome of the appeal by the General Medical Council in the Meadow case (due to be heard on 10 July 2006).
In the event that the Court of Appeal states the law in a way which does not preclude the bringing of the two charges against Mr Stretford, The FA reserves the right to reissue the charges.
The other seven charges that were issued by The FA in June 2005 remain unaffected by this issue.