A brother and sister have both been cleared of involvement in a disturbance on a Brighton housing estate.

Friends and family cheered in the public gallery at Hove Crown Court yesterday after the jury found Ryan White not guilty of affray.

His sister Kelly White was acquitted of the same charge on the direction of the judge earlier in the trail.

Both had denied the accusation, which arose after a disturbance on the Whitehawk estate on April 28 last year.

Kim White, Kelly and Ryan's mother, was in the public gallery to see her son acquitted.

She said: "Justice has been done. Ryan never did anything and Kelly certainly didn't have anything to do with it."

The court was told police were pelted with missiles as they tried to disperse a crowd of up to 75 people in the area around Whitehawk Way.

Ryan White, 23, of Twineham Close, was among a group which police dog handler Michelle Innis tried to push back in Colgate Close, the court heard.

PC Innis said Mr White was acting like a man possessed, spitting with rage and shouting, "I'm going to kill you all". She told the court she set her dog on him because he was pushing, punching and kicking out at officers.

He was bitten on the shoulder and then again on the arm, only backing off after being bitten a third time.

PC Innis told the court after the second bite she was kicked in the leg and then saw Kelly White kick her dog.

Kelly White, 25, of Wiston Road, Whitehawk, was dragged away by the Rottweiler leaving her with a large scar on her leg.

Miss White and her brother denied they were part of the disturbance and Mr White said he was trying to ensure his mother, sister and her baby daughter got home safely when he was confronted by officers.

The jury retired on Wednesday and yesterday returned to the courtroom to see footage of the disturbance again. Within half an hour a not guilty verdict was returned.

Mr White's mother said the past year had been terrible for her family.

Her son Gareth, 21, of Wiston Road, Whitehawk, was found dead in a flat in St John's Mount, Brighton, on February 3.

A post-mortem revealed he died from a toxic level of drugs including morphine, heroin and sleeping tablets.

Brighton and Hove coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley halted an inquest earlier this month to demand police investigate the death.

A man was arrested but no charges were brought.

The coroner said the police and Crown Prosecution Service should look again at the evidence with a view to considering whether Mr White had been unlawfully killed.