THE family of a Hampshire dad who died after he was thrown out of a bar are set to launch a civil action after the case against two doormen dramatically collapsed.

Bouncers David Shaw, 24, and Nigel Harding, 46, were yesterday cleared of the manslaughter of Peter Lawrence – 12 days into the trial.

Now the Lawrence family are preparing to begin civil proceedings against Lloyds No 1 Bar, where the tragic incident took place in January last year, and the door staff involved.

After two and a half days of legal arguments at Winchester Crown Court, Judge Guy Boney QC ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the defendants used unlawful or excessive force to eject Mr Lawrence out of the bar.

The 37-year-old dad-of-one from Titchfield died after he was thrown out of the bar in Port Solent while on a night out with his sister and friends.

But Judge Boney declared that the defendants behaved professionally throughout to restrain a drunken Mr Lawrence, who had refused to leave the bar despite being asked to a number of times.

He said: “From the doormen’s point of view, what they have is a man who is clearly drunk, already shown a high level of violence, who would clearly like to force his way back into the bar and that’s something that cannot be allowed to happen. This was not a moment for half measures.

“If they did not use enough force and he managed to escape and force his way back in the consequences could have been very serious. There is no evidence that either of these defendants in a horribly difficult situation for them behaved in any way unprofessionally.”

He added that the medical evidence also proved that the bouncers did not beat Mr Lawrence or get involved in a fight with him.

The case came to an abrupt end three weeks into the trial, which was scheduled to last five weeks, and after evidence from more than 30 witnesses.

Mr Shaw, of Philimore Road, Southampton and Mr Harding, of Rowner Close, Gosport, had denied responsibility for Mr Lawrence’s death.

Despite the pending civil prosecution the police have closed the criminal investigation into the death. The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Phil Bateman, said that it had been a long and complex undertaking and thanked Mr Lawrence’s family for their cooperation throughout. He added: “The effect of Peter’s untimely death will remain with his family forever, who have been fully supportive of the police action to date and we would also like to thank them for their assistance.

Hampshire Constabulary will not be continuing with this investigation, because all lines of inquiry have been exhausted at this stage.

Should any new evidence come to light we will of course remain committed to seeing justice done.”