Jury finds Portumna farmer not guilty of murder

Stock photo: Canva.com / utah778.

A Galway farmer has been found not guilty of murdering his aunt, but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Michael Scott, of Gortanumera, Portumna, claimed he accidentally ran over Chrissie Treacy in his JCB teleporter on the 27th of April 2018.

The prosecution disagreed though, accusing him of deliberately running over her in the yard outside her farmhouse following a long-running dispute over land.

The jury returned with its verdict this afternoon having deliberated for over 15 hours.