A MAN has been cleared of subjecting a woman to a campaign of abuse over a two-and-a-half-year period after a trial collapsed at Greenock Sheriff Court.

John Morton, 38, had been accused of engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his former partner between April 2019 and December 2021.

Prosecutors claimed he had prevented the woman from meeting with friends and family, threatened to harm her relatives and their property, struck her on the head and body, and held her head under water.

He was also alleged to have pushed the complainer against a wall and robbed her of keys and a mobile phone, as well as repeatedly calling her offensive names.

The part-heard trial returned to court on Monday, when a relative of the woman gave evidence to Sheriff James Varney.

The witness, who told the court she had known Mr Morton for more than 20 years, said: “I had an idea he was being cruel to her.

“I saw bruises on her arms and a black eye. She hid a lot from me.

“She had really bad anxiety. It’s ten times worse now.”

John Morton's trial at Greenock Sheriff Court collapsed on Monday. (Image: Newsquest) The trial previously heard evidence from the complainer, who described Mr Morton’s anger as being ‘unpredictable’.

The woman told the court she had kept a diary in which she noted 'incidents' between herself and Mr Morton.

One of the entries read: “He said he would burn me alive then turned up at my work with flowers.”

Following the closure of the Crown case at Greenock Sheriff Court, defence solicitor Amy Spencer submitted that her client had no case to answer because of a lack of corroboration concerning the incidents alleged in the charge against him.

During the trial, the court was shown photographs of injuries, and a video in which a man could be heard uttering abusive remarks towards a woman.

Ms Spencer noted that there was no corroboration with regards to when these were taken and whether they fell within the period stated in the charge.

In response to Ms Spencer's submission, fiscal depute Ashley Pollock informed Sheriff Varney that the Crown would no longer be seeking a conviction in the case, and Mr Morton was formally acquitted.