A self-confessed heroin addict has been sensationally cleared of murdering Dunfermline man Duncan Banks and robbing him of drugs and money.
A jury at the High Court in Livingston took just under three hours to return a majority verdict finding the case against father-of-three Steven Thomson not proven.
The 29-year-old would have faced life imprisonment if convicted, but judge Lady Rae told him he was free to leave the dock following the dramatic verdict.
Mr Banks was found dead in his flat in the Abbeyview area in September 2015 after being bludgeoned to death, although the murder weapon – thought to be a claw hammer – was never discovered.
Evidence heard throughout the trial revealed that Thomson was one of only a handful of people Mr Banks allowed into his flat, and Thomson himself said he was in the flat less than two hours before Mr Banks was killed.
However, he has always maintained his innocence and blamed another man for the crime.
