Snoozing Boro fan Adrian Carr's sleepless nights are over... thanks to a football-mad judge.

The judge dramatically cleared Mr Carr's name and quashed his conviction for being drunk at the Riverside.

The Boro fan punched the air and shouted "Get in there!" as he emerged from Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

He won his appeal yesterday against his February conviction and sentence by Teesside magistrates.

Judge Michael Taylor exonerated him and ruled he was NOT drunk at a football ground on August 24 last year.

Throwing out the case, he said: "This is a prosecution that should never have been brought."

He added: "It is the right of any Englishman at a football match to fall asleep if he wishes to do so - particularly if he's watching Arsenal."

Mr Carr was arrested after he dozed off in his seat during Boro's 4-0 thrashing by Arsenal in the first home game of the season.

He was found guilty of being drunk in a sporting arena and given a two-year conditional discharge with #150 costs.

But Judge Taylor said: "It may well be that he had some alcohol. It is correct that it would have been possible to smell alcohol on his breath. But the question is: 'was he drunk?'"

He said any right-thinking person who observed the evidence would give "the resounding answer 'no'".

The judge's droll delivery revealed a love for Boro FC as he quipped about the club's "annual trouncing" by Arsenal.

Before the hearing started, he told legal teams he was a long-standing season ticket holder and they raised no objections to his hearing the case.

Mr Carr, 28, of Caithness Road, Teesville, said after the appeal: "I'm well and truly overwhelmed. It's taken its time, but we got there in the end.

"It's like Cardiff all over again. It's like beating the Geordies to win the League.

"Now it's all over, I couldn't be happier."

He said those who arrested him over-reacted.

"The money wasted here could have been used on a better cause. I think it's an absolute disgrace. The magistrates want to open their eyes.

"It's been a bit stressful at times. There's been a lot of laughing and joking because the whole case has been a farce."

He thanked his legal team and said he would be considering what action, if any, to take next.

He wants his money back for the 12 matches he missed after his season ticket was confiscated. But a spokesman for the football club said there would be no refunds. "We returned his season ticket some time ago following the outcome of the court case and we view the matter as now closed."

Mr Carr's solicitor Simon Walker said: "I'm absolutely delighted and you could say my faith in the justice system has been restored. I thought there were several occasions when a sensible decision could've been taken and opportunities were missed to do that.

"It's just an inappropriate application of the law."

The judge had heard prosecution witnesses, including police officers and ground stewards, say Mr Carr appeared drunk, unsteady on his feet, eyes glazed, speech slurred, his breath smelling of alcohol.

But he pointed to video evidence and the old adage that "the camera doesn't lie".

The film showed Mr Carr standing bolt upright and walking steadily just one minute after he was supposed to have been "paralytic drunk", then in Middlesbrough police station's custody office answering questions.

"What happened in the concourse area and in the police station was crystal clear for myself and my colleagues to see.

"This man can be seen on the video to walk in a perfectly straight manner."

He said it was "totally apparent" that police officers did not stop to face him, converse or form an opinion of the state he was in. At the custody office, he added, Mr Carr courteously answered questions in an unslurred voice.

Evening Gazette opinion