A former demolition worker caught on camera carrying out a "violent" attack was today cleared of killing his victim.

Shaun Mitchell, 30, was convicted of assaulting Arif Mahmood to his injury in Dunfermline in the early hours of March 22, 2015.

But a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh acquitted him of culpable homicide at the end of his trial, with calls of "scum" and "scummy bastard" following the verdict.

The trial judge, Lord Beckett, told jurors: "It is inevitable the verdict you reached would be a disappointment to some people in the courtroom.

"You should not be distressed by the reactions of anyone in court. Emotions inevitably run high in a case like this."

Mitchell, of Drummond Square, Lochgelly, had denied killing Mr Mahmood, 26, outside Dunfermline Bus Station.

He was found guilty of pursuing the Network Rail employee at Queen Anne Street, knocking him to the ground, repeatedly punching, striking and kicking him, following him and repeatedly striking him.

Lord Beckett deferred sentence on Mitchell and continued his bail, but warned that all sentencing options remained open.

Having viewed CCTV footage of the attack, the judge said the way Mitchell finished it was "violent and sustained".

A witness, Gavin Kirkaldy, 26, said he was a passenger in a car with Mr Mahmood, of Osprey Crescent, when they got into a confrontation.

He said there was "a bit of a misunderstanding" and Mitchell and his girlfriend, who had also been out in Dunfermline, thought they were shouting at them through the window.

Mr Kirkaldy said neither he nor Mr Mahmood had been shouting.

He said Mr Mahmood stopped the car and opened the door to say they were not shouting but was hit.

He was thrown against the vehicle and when Mr Mahmood got out of the car, Mitchell went "after him down the street".

Mr Kirkaldy said he then drove the car but stopped before reversing the vehicle.

He said he thought he had seen Mitchell standing to the side of him, in front of a taxi.

Advocate depute Peter McCormick asked him why he had reversed and he replied: "I have no idea."

He added that at that point he did not know where Mr Mahmood was.

The court was shown footage of the attack on Mr Mahmood, during which he was knocked to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked.

The victim was then followed to a wall at the bus station and Mitchell later told police that he hit him twice again there, but in evidence said he kicked his legs away.

Mitchell, a sales adviser, told the court: "That's not who I am. Even although you see it on CCTV that's not my normal self."

He did not deny that drink had an effect on him and admitted assaulting Mr Mahmood, but regretted what he had done.

He said the incident began with "somebody shouting out the car".

Mitchell said: "To be honest I don't know what he shouted. I know it was aimed at me."

Mr Mahmood was taken to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline and was in cardiac arrest by the time he arrived.

He later died and the cause of death was arrhythmia. Mr Mahmood was found to have traces of a drug and had a heart condition.

The Crown argued that on the basis of medical evidence, the stress of the assault could be a significant or material cause in his death.

Mr McCormick said there had also been contact with the reversing car but no significant injuries from that.

Defence solicitor advocate Gordon Martin told jurors: "This is quite a difficult and unusual case."

He asked them to convict Mitchell of the assault but not the charge of culpable homicide.