An athlete charged with shooting a man in Somerset has been cleared by a jury after a three-week Supreme Court trial.

Blaine Simmons, 20, had denied attempting to murder Lo’Torean Durrant, 23, and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence in the incident on March 19, 2013.

The verdict comes almost a year to the day after a previous trial for the same incident concluded with a hung jury.

Mr Simmons was found not guilty of both charges last night and discharged.

During his trial, the court heard that on the evening of the shooting, Mr Durrant had taken a taxi to his home on Scott’s Hill Road, Sandys.

He had got out of the vehicle when he was attacked by a gunman wearing a mask described as being similar to that seen in the horror movie Scream.

Mr Durrant was shot as he attempted to flee, with the bullet passing through his abdomen and into the taxi’s door. The taxi fled the area and Mr Durrant hid in nearby bushes until emergency vehicles arrived on the scene.

A witness, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, testified that after the shooting she saw two dark-clothed figures with helmets moving quickly through the area from the direction of Spice Lilly Lane. She told the court that she later saw a black car pick up one of the men.

Officers tracked the vehicle to a condominium complex on Broome Street. Mr Simmons — who had represented the Island in the Carifta Games — was subsequently arrested outside the building, with Police officers testifying that he appeared sweaty, nervous and “smelling strongly of soap”.

The court heard that gun shot residue (GSR) — particles consisting of three elements formed when a firearm is discharged — was found on Mr Simmons’ phone.

GSR component particles — which may or may not come from a firearm — were discovered on other items, including a towel and the car in which Mr Simmons took a ride that evening.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr Simmons, described as a low-level member of a Somerset-based gang, was the man who shot Mr Durrant.

They said that after the shooting, he walked to a home on Acacai lane, being joined by a second man along the way before eventually getting a ride in a car to Broome Street.

Defence lawyer Marc Daniels challenged the evidence, stating that there was a “real, genuine, positive risk” that the GSR could have been accidentally transferred on to the objects from the scene of the shooting by the investigating officers.

He also noted the lack of DNA evidence or any positive identification that Mr Simmons was the gunman, while accusing Police of “inconsistencies and lies” on the stand.

Mr Daniels last night welcomed the not guilty verdict.

“Mr Simmons has been in custody since the date of his arrest on March 19, 2013, so he has been on remand, locked down for 23 hours a day just shy of two years, so as you can imagine the outcome is extremely special,” he said.

“I am so happy with the verdict that I couldn’t hold back my emotion at the end.

“To hug my client and his family has brought me the greatest joy. From the moment I met my client I believed in his innocence and nothing altered my view of him or the case over the past 22 months as we went through the first trial, which resulted in a hung jury, and the subsequent retrial.”