NEW dad Nicholas Tucker is looking forward to watching his baby son grow up after he was cleared of stabbing a man near Weymouth seafront.

Mr Tucker, aged 40, of Spring Grove Court, Weymouth, hugged girlfriend Chantel Summerhayes and four-month old Jahneiro as he walked free from Bournemouth Crown Court.

He is already making plans to return to his cookery studies and the security work that he had to give up before his trial.

Mr Tucker said: “I can see my son grow up now. I can concentrate on my family and work and raising my son.”

Mr Tucker was cleared of wounding with intent to do James Little grievous bodily harm on May 25 last year.

He and Eldon Lloyd Malcolm had provided Caribbean food for the quiz night at the Park Hotel and the court had heard how it had been a successful night until they left.

Mr Tucker accepted being with co-defendant Eldon Lloyd Malcolm as they were involved in a confrontation with four men who shouted racist abuse at them in Grange Road.

They both denied carrying out the stabbing. Outside the court Mr Tucker said the result had given him fresh hope for the future.

He said: “I’m looking on things brightly now. Now I can go back to college and finish my third year in cookery. I had to leave because of all this stressing me out and I could not do my studying properly.

“I can go back to my security work too but cooking is what I love. It is my passion. I’m still hoping to open a Caribbean restaurant in Weymouth.”

Mr Tucker said he has been completing the City and Guilds NVQ level 3 cooking and pastry course at Weymouth College.

“I feel great,” he added. “And now I’ve got faith in the law whereas at first I didn’t have any.

“This shows to all those people who judged me and found me guilty when this first happened that you should not judge people before you know all the facts.

“When people heard the prosecution’s side everybody was saying he is guilty.

“But now they can see it like the jury and I would like to thank all 12 of them.”

His girlfriend Chantel, aged 41, was beaming after embracing him with their son outside the courtroom.

“I’m just happy to keep the family together,” she said. “We can get on with being a family.”