A theft charge against a man who was accused of stealing flowers from tributes left to Ozzy Osbourne in Birmingham city centre has been dropped.
The charge against Parviz Jafari was withdrawn by prosecutors after a court was told a security guard had granted the 45-year-old permission to take the flowers.
Mr Jafari, from West Bromwich, spoke only to give his personal details during a four-minute hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, where he was told he was free to go.
He was charged in August following reports of a theft among thousands of tributes left near the Black Sabbath bench and mural following Osbourne’s death on 22 July aged 76 from a reported heart attack.
The court was told a review by the Crown Prosecution Service found there was no realistic prospect of conviction, because it could not be proved the defendant had been dishonest when he took the flowers.
District Judge Wain told MrJafari: “Please stand, sir. The matter having been withdrawn, you are free to go.”
The floral tributes had been left in Broad Street, Birmingham, mainly at the site of the Black Sabbath Bridge, after Osbourne’s death.
He died less than three weeks after he and his Black Sabbath bandmates had played a farewell concert for 40,000 fans at Villa Park football ground.
The Back to the Beginning gig had featured a host of bands with Metallica, Pantera and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith taking part.
The day before a private funeral Osbourne’s family organised for a public procession to go through his home city, stopping at the bridge where they added pink roses to the tributes.
The procession, watch by thousands of fans both at the scene and online, was led by a brass band playing Black Sabbath songs, with his body transported in a hearse topped by a purple floral tribute in the shape of a cross.
