A New Malden man accused of 'courtsiding' at the Australian Open tennis finals has had all charges against him dropped.

Daniel Dobson, 22, was arrested by Victoria Police in Melbourne in January and charged with illegal gambling, after officials allegedly caught him sending points information to a betting ring through a device sewn into his shorts.

He had been accused of sending live points updates to a gambling syndicate in a bid to beat the time lag on televsion.

In a statement on his employer Sporting Data's website today, the company said: "Sporting Data are pleased that the corruption charge against our employee, Daniel Dobson, has been dropped and that Sporting Data, its employees and directors have been exonerated of any wrongdoing.

"The charge was entirely spurious and the police appear to have been particularly badly advised in the matter. We would like to thank all those who have supported us through this difficult time."

According to Australian media, solicitors acting on behalf of Mr Dobson - a former Richard Challoner - have applied for his $23,000 legal costs to be covered by the Office of Public Prosecutions.

The cost of one member of the legal team to travel to London to return Mr Dobson's $10,000 bail money should also be refunded by the OPP.

Today, the Sydney Morning Herald called the dropping of the charges "an embarssing and costly backflip for Victoria Police."