A Hibs fan accused of throwing a smoke grenade into a section of Dens Park reserved for spectators with disabilities has walked free from court.
Jurors at Dundee Sheriff Court unanimously found the charges against 18-year-old Callum Jeram not proven.
Jeram, of Restalrig Road South, Edinburgh, denied culpable and reckless conduct by throwing the lit flare into the crowd at the Dundee versus Hibs game on February 22 2019, to the risk of their injury.
The teenager claimed the pyrotechnic was thrown at him by somebody else, already lit, and that he picked it up and threw it away in a panic, burning his hand in the process.
The smoke grenade landed in the disabled section of the Bob Shankly Stand beside a wheelchair user, before it was kicked away by a carer.
Depute fiscal Stewart Duncan laid out his closing argument on Tuesday morning before Sheriff Alastair Carmichael and the 15-person jury.
He urged jurors to find the evidence of stewards who identified Jeram as being the person who threw the flare as “credible and reliable”.
Mr Duncan said Juram’s account that he threw it away to “protect himself and others” did not make any sense and was “just not true”.
Jeram, who had travelled from his home in Edinburgh for the match, was said to have had “six pints in an hour” in the pub before going to the match.
Mr Duncan said Jeram threw the lit flare with “utter disregard” for public safety.
“He gave no thought as to where the flare would land in the crowd,” he said.
Defence agent Stuart Hamilton urged jurors to acquit his client and said there were “clear discrepancies” in the evidence of the witnesses.
He said Jeram acted “out of necessity” when the device was thrown at him.
He also said police did not provide a “satisfactory excuse” as to why they did not note down Jeram’s version of events at the charge bar at Bell Street.
Mr Hamilton suggested his client gave a “plausible explanation” and was a “very reliable witness” in this case.
“All he could think about was getting it away from himself and others,” he said.
“He had no other option than to take the course of action that he did.
“He took the only course of action open to him.”
Jeram’s parents broke down in tears in court when the verdict was given.
