Two men have been cleared of a religiously aggravated assault after they were accused of kicking a Sikh lawyer’s turban off during a brawl.

Luxmanan Mehendran, 27 of Ashridge Gardens in Arnos Grove, Enfield, and Aravinth Kandasamy, 26 of Essex, were accused of assaulting Rashvinder Panesar outside St Paul’s Cathedral in April, 2013.

It was alleged at the Old Bailey that the pair kicked off the man’s turban during the brawl but both told jurors they acted in self-defence.

Mr Mahendran was cleared of religiously aggravated assault as well as assaulting Mr Panesar’s wife during the scuffle.

However, the jury could not reach a verdict in relation to the count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and prosecutors will decide next week whether he should have a retrial for causing actual bodily harm (ABH).

Mr Kandasamy was unanimously cleared of religiously aggravated assault occasioning ABH, and assault occasioning ABH.

The fight broke out when Mr Panesar tried to hail a black cab and resulted in a melee in which Mr Panesar's turban came off and he suffered a fractured nose, a chipped tooth, and an injury to his knee, the court heard.