A FORESTRY craftsman who denied a £10,400 theft been acquitted of two of the three charges he was facing.

Harvey Davidson, 30, went on trial at Carlisle Crown Court this week. He had pleaded not guilty to three theft charges.

These related to money which was alleged to have been stolen from car park ticket machines at the Grizedale and Whinlatter forests in the Lake District.

Davidson, a man of good character, protested his innocence throughout the trial.

And after hearing all evidence in the case, jurors cleared him of two charges covering a period from late 2013 to early 2014.

They unanimously found him not guilty of stealing £5,747 from two machines at Grizedale. And, on a majority verdict, they acquitted him of an alleged £407 theft from the same site.

The jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on the third count. This related to the alleged theft of £4,239 from three ticket machines at Whinlatter, near Keswick.

Recorder Michael Smith granted the prosecution 14 days in which to decide whether to seek a retrial on this charge.

In the meantime Davidson, of Portland Square, Workington, was remanded on bail.