RAY DAVIES - RAY DAVIES SHOOTING CASE CLOSED

RAY DAVIES SHOOTING CASE CLOSED

A man accused of shooting Kinks singer Ray Davies has been freed after the rock star did not attend proceedings for the second time in a row.

It is the second time that proceedings in the case have been put off.

In 2005, charges of armed robbery and aggravated battery against Jerome Barra, the man suspected of the shooting, were dropped due to Mr Davies' absence.

Prosecutors had then reserved the right to resume the trial, but this time the Orleans parish district attorney's office has closed the case.

A spokesperson for the office said Davies' absence made it impossible to continue the case.

Speaking to the New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper, Davies said: "I am very disappointed with the way this case has been handled.

"I intend to pursue it further."

The singer was shot in the leg while in New Orleans in 2004 after a confrontation with two men who had stolen his girlfriend's bag.

Davies and his brother, Dave Davies, founded The Kinks in London in 1963. The group, which also has Mick Avory and John Dalton as members, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.