A GREENOCK man has been acquitted of setting a fire which killed almost 30 pigeons in a shed in the town.

David Spencer, 41, stood trial at Greenock Sheriff Court charged with starting a blaze in a garden on Durham Road in Larkfield on June 2, 2022.

He was acquitted after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not proven on the charge.

Mr Spencer was alleged to have been acting along with another by setting a fire which then took hold and destroyed the shed, killing the birds inside.

The court was shown CCTV footage in which two figures could be seen entering the back garden of the property through at gate at 2.39am.

The pair approached the pigeon shed, with the camera catching a bright flash as it quickly caught fire.

Two witnesses, who were asleep in bed when the perpetrators entered the garden and started the fire, said they thought they recognised one of the figures in the CCTV footage as being Mr Spencer.

(Image: Newsquest)

The owner of the shed, which was said to house almost 30 birds, told the court: “As soon as I seen it, I knew it was him.

“I’m 110 per cent sure.”

Both witnesses said they had been familiar with Mr Spencer for around 20 years, with one noting that he had ‘a very distinctive walk’.

Defence solicitor Amy Spencer (no relation) asked the second witness: “Aside from the walk, there’s really nothing else by which you can identify him?”

She replied: “No.”

A Police Scotland detective sergeant told the court that he spent around an hour with Mr Spencer after he was arrested on June 4, 2022, but that he, personally, was unable to identify anyone in the footage.

Giving evidence himself, Mr Spencer denied being responsible for the fire.

(Image: Newsquest)

Ms Spencer asked: “Do you recall what you were doing?”

He answered: “At that time? In my bed, sleeping.”

The lawyer said: “Would you have any reason to kill pigeons?”

Mr Spencer replied: “All my life I have been an animal lover.”

In her closing speech, fiscal depute Dana Barclay noted that Mr Spencer had known ‘for some time’ that his walk was the ‘only evidence against him’.

She told jurors: “He knew that before he walked to the witness box, so bear that in mind.”

In her closing remarks, Ms Spencer said: “Setting fire to a hut with live pigeons in side is shocking.

“I think everyone can agree on that.

“But you cannot make your decision based on sympathy in this case.”

The jury of five men and ten women took less than an hour to return a unanimous not proven verdict.