A postmaster and his brother have been cleared of killing an irate customer.
Edward Brown, 51, and Alan Brown, 63, were both found not guilty of culpable homicide following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
John McGuire was said to have gone into the Cardonald Post Office in Glasgow in March last year to complain about the cost of posting a parcel.
Jurors heard of fears the 56-year-old could have been set to stab Edward Brown – but it emerged he had been holding a Snickers chocolate bar and not a weapon.
Mr McGuire – who weighed almost 20-stone - died of asphyxia.
Prosecutors claimed the brothers held Mr McGuire on the ground and stamped on his body.
It is also alleged they pressed his neck and knelt on his back restricting his breathing. But the pair strongly denied killing Mr McGuire.
Edward Brown insisted he felt he was being confronted by a possible “madman” that day – and had feared for his life.
The postmaster said he showed relatives CCTV of the incident to prove that he and his brother were innocent. He told jurors: “I needed my family to know what happened and that I was not responsible.
“They agreed that the trial should not be happening.”
Relatives of the men sobbed loudly following the verdicts, while the family of Mr McGuire stormed out the packed courtroom.
Edward Brown, of Renfrew , Renfrewshire, said he knew Mr McGuire as a customer who came in once a month.
He recalled Mr McGuire being “very agitated” when he turned up on March 25 last year.
The postmaster said: “He felt he had paid too much for a postal item.
“He believed a member of staff had an attitude towards him.”
The dad said he was called a “scum dwarf”, but was not bothered by the remark.
Mr McGuire then returned to the shop and apparently “swung a punch” at the postmaster.
Edward Brown said he was grabbed before both men ended up grappling on the ground.
Alan Brown then came in to help his brother. He happened to be visiting the post office to drop something off for his sibling.
Andrew Blackwood, 58, was repairing a photocopier in the back room when the incident began.
He had told jurors: “I heard an almighty crash."
“I got up and looked round and a man was on the floor with Eddie, but Eddie was on top of him with his arms over his shoulders.
“The man was kicking and moving and I thought I needed to give Eddie a hand.”
Mr Blackwood held Mr Maguire’s right leg.
He added: “I needed to stop him getting up because he could have wrecked the place.”
CCTV showed Alan Brown also getting on top of Mr Maguire.
Mr Blackwood said: “I remember Alan kneeling on him to keep the guy down.”
Alan Brown’s wife Sandra and a customer held down Mr Maguire’s left leg until the police arrived.
Edward Brown said he was “not moving” away from Mr McGuire until the police officers came.
His QC Thomas Ross asked: “What was your concern?”
He replied: “That there was a madman – if he got up, God knows what he would have done.”
He felt there was “no position to negotiate” with Mr McGuire.
The accused then added: “I felt my life was threatened.”
The court heard claims Edward Brown stated at one point: “You are not going to stab me with that.”
But the item Mr McGuire appeared to be clutching something which turned out to be a Snickers bar.
Edward Brown added: “I am not happy with the outcome (the death), but there was nothing intentional.”
Alan Brown, of the city's Craigton, remembered the post office being “quite chaotic” and the atmosphere “terrifying”.
He insisted he was only defending his brother.
Asked had he gone “way too far”, he replied: “Absolutely not.”
