Former Kiwi cricket captain Chris Cairns cleared of perjury charges

New Delhi: Former New Zealand cricket captain Chris Cairns has been found not guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice on Monday by the Southwark Crown Court in England.

Cairns, 45, was cleared of falsely declaring under oath during a 2012 libel case that he had never cheated at cricket. It pertains to his lawsuit against Lalit Modi in 2012.

In the case, the former Kiwi all-rounder had successfully sued the Indian Premier League (IPL) founder for accusing him on Twitter of match-fixing.

With today's verdict, he was cleared of all charges at Southwark Crown Court.

After a nine-week trial, a British jury of seven women and five men at Southwark Crown Court cleared Cairns of the charges.

The allegations against Cairns resurfaced in December 2013 when the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed that it was investigating match-fixing allegations against three former New Zealand players.

And during the libel case against Modi, Cairns was alleged to have lied to the court when he said he had "never, ever cheated at cricket".

Then, he was said to have perverted the course of justice by trying to convince former team-mate Lou Vincent to provide a false witness statement in his defence.

Cairns` "legal adviser", barrister Andrew Fitch-Holland, was also cleared of perverting the course of justice.