A MAN accused of committing a murder in Wellington in February of this year has been cleared by a jury.

Nicholas Adam Stutt was also found not guilty on an alternative charge of unlawful killing.

Stutt, aged 33, of Laburnum Street, Taunton, was alleged to have killed Lewis Smith in a house in Jurston Lane, Wellington, early on the morning of February 7.

Mr Smith, aged 30, who also lived in Taunton, died from a single stab wound despite the efforts of police officers and paramedics at the scene to save him.

Stutt was arrested later the same day after taking a train to the West Midlands and had been held on remand until his trial, which ended last week.

The trial was held in Bristol Crown Court before the Recorder of Bristol, Judge Peter Blair KC.

The jury heard 11 days of evidence before retiring on Thursday (August 24) and then returned not guilty verdicts the following day on both the murder charge and the alternative count of manslaughter.