Scott Downey was said to have attacked Gary Scott in his Elm Drive home in January last year, leaving him needing seven stitches to heal a head wound.

But he was cleared of the assault at Paisley Sheriff Court because nobody else was able to say they witnessed the alleged attack.

Scott, who lost his arm in an industrial accident, told the court that he was sitting in his house at about 4.30pm on January 11, 2014.

He said he could hear shouting and swearing coming from the close and headed out to tell those responsible to keep the noise down.

He said that Downey, who lived above him at the time, was one of a number of people in the close at the time.

Scott headed back inside and locked the door and, a short time later, heard someone knocking at his door.

Thinking it would be Downey coming to apologise for the noise being made in the close, Scott went to the door.

And he said that, when he got there, he saw a bright light before falling to the ground.

Scott told the court that he was set upon by about three people, who punched him, kicked him, stamped on him and hit him with a bottle of Buckfast.

He managed to get to his feet and made his way into the living room, where he was attacked again.

The witness – who wears a prosthetic arm when he is leaving the house – said he was picked up and pinned to the wall by the throat and then thrown onto a couch.

He told the court he was pinned against the couch while Downey punched him three times to the right side of his face before the thugs responsible made their escape.

An irate Scott told the court that he had not only been battered by Downey but that Downey knew who the other attackers were and was protecting them.

But Downey, who now lives in Elderslie, walked free due to a lack of evidence against him.

He accepted he had punched Scott but said it took place in the hall outside – not in Scott’s flat.

Gordon Ritchie, defending, made a no case to answer submission, saying that it could not be proved that Downey had been in Scott’s flat.

Sheriff James Spy agreed and said that, even though a pair of broken glasses were found in the flat which are thought to belong to Downey, there was no evidence to back up Scott’s claim that Downey had been in his home.

The sheriff acquitted him of the charge and the 34-year-old, of Elderslie’s Old Road, walked free from court.