An Italian tourist who shot his childhood friend to death on a Perthshire hunting trip has been found not guilty of culpable homicide.
Marco Cavola died after the single shot to the head on Rossie Estate on March 25 2019.
Franco Moroni was acquitted by jurors at the High Court in Dundee after a week-long trial.
However, the shooting agent who organised the trip, Peter Bruce from Meigle in Perthshire, has been fined nearly £5,000 for his role in the tragedy.
The tour organiser pled guilty last year at the High Court in Glasgow to health and safety and weapon certificate breaches.
The plea could not be made public until the end of Moroni’s trial.
Accused is now recluse
The jury took a little over half an hour to unanimously acquit Moroni, 62, from Lariano, near Rome.
He had admitted firing the shotgun blast which killed Mr Cavola near Inchture but denied he acted culpably and recklessly.
After being acquitted, he bowed and said “grazie” to jurors before breaking down in tears.
The trial had heard how he and Mr Cavola, with a third person, Onorio Galoni, had arrived in Scotland the previous day for the hunting trip.
Moroni told the court he had to be persuaded to take part as he was not keen on shooting and less experienced than his friends.
While in a hide on the estate to shoot pigeons, crouching Moroni pulled the trigger at the exact moment Mr Cavola stood up in front of him, killing him instantly.
The court heard Moroni say in the four years since, his marriage had broken down and he has become a recluse in his hometown.
On Thursday, defence advocate Murray Macara KC pointed out errors to jurors by shooting agent Peter Bruce and Mr Cavola.
In his closing speech, he said: “If he (Peter Bruce) had done his job properly, none of this would have happened.”
He added: “The events on March 25 were a tragedy.
“That tragic event doesn’t necessarily mean that Franco Moroni has to be held to account.
“This tragic event was an accident, no more, no less.
“It pains me to say this but as an expert individual, did Marco not to some extent contribute to this tragedy?
“The unfortunate coincidence was on one hand, Franco pulled the trigger and on the other, Marco stood up.
“Nobody will know what was going through his mind at that time.”
Bruce, the only person convicted over the death, was fined £4,000 for health and safety failings in his role as a sporting agent and a further £800 for providing the lethal weapon.
The 56-year-old admitted providing the shotgun to Moroni when he did not have a legitimate gun certificate, contrary to the Firearms Act 1968.
During the trial, he admitted leaving the Italian shooting party unsupervised to drive to a Asda in Dundee to buy petrol and told how he took a panicked phone call to tell him about the tragedy while he was away.
The court heard as a result of the conviction, Bruce gave all his weapons to police and lost his firearms certificate, although he has kept his job.
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