Three former directors of a Banbury IT firm have been cleared of lying to investors after two trials.

Timothy Whiston, 45, with fellow executives Stephen Graham, 49, and John Whelan, 46, were accused of lying in the accounts of healthcare software firm ISoft.

The trio, with Barnsley FC owner Patrick Cryne, 62, were said to have deliberately included revenue from a big NHS contract before the deal was signed. But a retrial, begun in April, collapsed at Southwark Crown Court on Monday after a prosecutor working for the Financial Conduct Authority found evidence causing a ‘change of stance in important aspects of the case’.