A north-east man has been cleared of possessing two homemade guns at a farm in Aberdeenshire.
Ian Robertson had been on trial alongside his co-accused Raymond Panton at the High Court in Aberdeen this week.
The pair were accused of owning “improvised shotguns and ammunition” at a rural property just outside New Deer.
Over the course of the trial a jury of eight men and seven women have heard evidence that the men acquired the illegal weapons after two masked robbers armed with swords raided their home in April this year.
The court heard that following the robbery Panton armed himself with baseball bats and other weapons for protection.
The court also heard that in August last year Panton claimed he had discovered two metal tubes hidden in Mr Robertson’s bedroom at the farm.
He claimed that once he looked at them he realised that if he slotted them inside each other, using a pumping motion, shotgun cartridges could be fired.
Panton called the police and asked them to come to Parkhill Stores, Greens, New Deer, where they lived at the time.
The pair were then arrested in connection with owning illegal guns.
Both men denied owning the weapons and blamed each other.
Yesterday at the close of the Crown case, after a no case to answer submission was led by Mr Robertson’s counsel Drew McKenzie, Lord Bannatyne ruled there was not enough evidence to convict him on any of the charges on the indictment and he was acquitted.
Speaking after court the 40-year-old said that the whole ordeal had been extremely stressful for him and had even led to the break up of his relationship.
The father-of-six said that he was glad his trial was now over.
The pair were also accused of producing cannabis at the farm in New Deer and had lodged a special defence of incrimination. They claimed two other people were responsible for growing the Class B drugs.
That charge was dropped by the Crown yesterday.
Panton, who still lives at Parkhill Stores, Greens, is also alleged to have acted in a threatening and abusive manner when police came to search his property.
It is alleged he shouted and swore and threatened to shoot officers.
A verdict in his trial is expected on Tuesday.