A man accused of breaking into a home and threatening a woman with a knife was this afternoon found not guilty.

Gerald Hall, 54, had denied that he broke into the home of Perri Trott home on November 7, 2008, and sliced her in the thumb.

Mr. Hall told the Supreme Court that Ms Trott had made up the story to get her husband — Mr. Hall’s cousin — to feel sympathy for her and return to the marital home; something that happened soon after he was arrested.

He said Ms Trott “concocted” the story after she discovered her husband was seeing another woman.

Earlier Defence lawyer Rick Woolridge repeatedly accused Ms Trott of making the entire incident up, and cutting both herself and her window screen to make it look like she’d been the victim of a crime.

She denied fabricating the story and told the court she was shaken awake by a masked man, armed with a knife, who told her: “I’ve come to harm you, I’ve got a knife,” before cutting her on the thumb as she tried to defend herself.

Today the jury found Mr. Hall not guilty of aggravated burglary and not guilty of burglary.

Mr. Woolridge said: “The jury has spoken. It is unfortunate that in excess of two years of a man’s life could be impacted with the pressure that a trial brings. The wheels of justice have turned despite the slowness.”

More on this story in tomorrow’s Royal Gazette