A top people's hairdresser who counts the Duchess of Cornwall and Hollywood A-list celebrities among his clients walked free from court yesterday after being cleared of assaulting his neighbour.

Daniel Galvin, who launched a hair care product range with the Prince of Wales last year, was found not guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury sitting at Hereford Crown Court.

The 35-year-old defendant, from Pershore, Worcestershire, had been accused of repeatedly punching and kicking 61-year-old James Hicken after the older man climbed into his garden to help an injured bird.

Galvin admitted punching Mr Hicken three times about the head but said he had done so in self-defence.

The father-of-two said he "reacted spontaneously" after his neighbour came "storming" into the garden "ranting and raving".

Galvin had spent the day clay pigeon shooting with friends and family in a field behind his rural retreat - Pensham Fields House.

He said his neighbour had thrown a seagull at his feet and started poking him in the shoulder and face, causing him to bleed and ripping his cornea.

Galvin said he had punched Mr Hicken, who had made several complaints to the council about his family, because he thought he was about to be hit.

Mr Hicken fell to the floor at which point Galvin dragged his bespectacled neighbour up by the shirt collar and pushed him back to the newly-erected 6ft barbed wire fence over which he had climbed.

It took the panel of nine men and three women just 50 minutes to return a verdict of not guilty in this case.

The court was told about an on-going dispute between the neighbours.

Mr Hicken "loathed" the Galvins who he thought were "inconsiderate" and had made complaints to the council, which were later dismissed, about their weekend bonfires, the location of a shed and a string of fairy lights they had decorated a blue fir tree with for Christmas.

Galvin said Mr Hicken had "shouted and screamed" at his sons - 14-year-old Raffael and four-year-old Rhett - as they played in the garden and that he had kicked at their front door, frightening his 36-yearold wife Suzanna.

Defence lawyer Sasha Wass QC described Mr Hicken as a "self-important bully" who had spent August 29 last year "nursing his resentment" for the Galvins as they had fun in their garden.

Ms Wass told the court he had been "motivated by pure anger" when he confronted the world-renown colourist, whose his client list has included Madonna and Tom Cruise.

Galvin's father, Daniel Galvin Snr, is also a celebrity hairdresser and was the man responsible for Diana, Princess of Wales' blonde streaks.