A Fife businessman accused of being concerned in the supply of more than £100,000 worth of herbal cannabis has walked free from court after a jury found the charge not proven.
Tomasso Palumbo, 53, of Craigmyle Street, Dunfermline, was tried at the High Court in Livingston after pleading not guilty to dealing drugs from houses in Bathgate and Broxburn, West Lothian, between July 16 and November 22 2018.
During his trial the jury heard nearly 10 kilos of cannabis were discovered after police forced entry to a flat in Irvine Crescent, Bathgate, looking for a dead body.
Neighbours had complained about a swarm of flies inside.
Instead of a corpse, officers found herbal cannabis, most of it vacuum packed in clear plastic bags.
The discovery led to officers getting search warrants for a rented house in Broxburn linked to Palumbo and for his then-home in Maitland Hog Lane, Kirkliston.
A further three kilos of the Class-B drug were found in the loft of the rented house in Nicol Road, Broxburn.
Police experts estimated the maximum potential value of the drugs recovered at almost £129,000.
Detective constable Jordan Rintoul told how Palumbo ran away from plain clothes officers who turned up at his Kirkliston home.
However, the jury decided there was insufficient to convict him and he was formally acquitted by judge Lord Sandison.
