A former Labour steward who was at the centre of a political storm after hecklers were ejected from the party conference has been cleared of affray.

Joe Ifill, 43, was accused of threatening a friend with a knife in a dispute over payment for a car in January.

A jury unanimously found him not guilty yesterday after a trial at Hove Crown Court.

Mr Ifill and Lucy Potter met when they were both stewards at the 2005 Labour conference at the Brighton Centre.

He was one of two stewards who ejected protestors Walter Wolfgang and Steve Forrest for heckling Foreign Secretary Jack Straw’s speech on Iraq.

Mr Wolfgang, 83, a Jewish refugee from Germany, was arrested under the Terrorism Act as he tried to get back into the conference centre.

The Labour activist received an apology from Geoff Williams, then an assistant chief constable at Sussex Police, who admitted the pensioner should not have been held.

The doorman and former car clamper, of Hove Park Villas, Hove, said yesterday he was pleased the jury had cleared him of threatening Miss Potter and her friend Julian Esposito on January 20.

She had bought a car from Mr Ifill on December 27 but changed her mind the same day after paying him £600 and asked for her money back.

Mr Ifill had already spent the money on another car and agreed to pay her back at £50 a month.

He said she turned up at his home with Mr Esposito on January 20 and he felt threatened when they repeatedly refused to leave the house he shares with other people with special needs.

Miss Potter claimed he had an eight inch kitchen knife in his hand when he told them: "I have killed and I will kill again".

All three people made 999 calls to the police at the same time with Mr Ifill's being the first logged by the police operator.

He told the operator he felt threatened by Miss Potter and Mr Esposito who were refusing to leave the house.

And he said he put the phone down and went to get the kitchen knife "for his own safety" after being told it would be some time before officers arrived.

Recorder Gregory Bull, QC, said Mr Ifill had the right to eject people from their own home if they refused to leave.

He added that Mr Ifill was also entitled to use reasonable force to do so.