A Holsworthy man has been cleared of attacking an arthritic pensioner after the Judge ordered the jury to find him not guilty.
The case against Simon Sillifant was stopped after the prosecution studied new evidence including texts sent by the complainant Lawrence Thompson.
Mr Thompson, aged 72, claimed he had been attacked by Sillifant in an argument which arose out of a love triangle.
Sillifant had always denied the allegations and insisted he had been defending himself from an attack by Mr Thompson after going to his flat in search of his partner.
The case folded after Mr Thompson was cross examined about texts which he sent after the incident in which he spoke about Sillifant going to prison as a result of his allegations.
The defence argued he had invented his story to get Sillifant out of the way in the hope that the woman at the centre of the love triangle would return to him.
Sillifant, of North Street, Holsworthy, denied causing actual bodily harm in the incident in October 2013 and was found not guilty on the directions of Judge Phillip Wassall at Exeter Crown Court.
Before the case collapsed Mr Gareth Evans, prosecuting, said there was a background of ill feeling between the two men in the build up to the incident arising from them both having relationships with the same woman.
Mr Thompson, who suffers from arthritis and struggled to walk into the witness box, said the woman came round to his house in a distressed state and said she cold not bear to stay with Sillifant and wanted to move back to his flat.
He said Sillifant attacked him on his doorstep and hit him across the head with his own metal walking stick.
Under cross examination he denied being the aggressor and concocting his story to try to get Sillifant into trouble but accepted sending a text in which he called the defendant 'sillyc***' and saying he was 'going down'.
He said:"I did not lose my temper. There are still gashes on my head. Have the jury seen the photographs of my head. It would have been impossible for me to have attacked him."
Miss Emily Cook, defending, suggested he made his allegations because Sillifant had taken his partner from him and he wanted him to get into trouble and out of the way so he would be able to resume his relationship.
