They say Henty did not strike the victim with a shovel, while he was on the ground. He was himself being attacked by White with the shovel, who was standing up.

A 58-year-old greyhound trainer who tried to shoot a man with a crossbow before bludgeoning him with a scaffold pole has been cleared of murder.

Michael White, who owns Jobs Cross Kennels in Hastings Road, Rolvenden, near Tenterden, was also cleared of manslaughter amid emotional scenes at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday.

It had been alleged that Mr White, together with friend Daniel Henty, 35, had killed haulage contractor Paul Cox following a long-standing feud.

The jury was told that Mr Cox, who was 45, was beaten about the head as he lay injured and helpless on the ground with a crossbow bolt through his arm at the kennels. The shot had been fired by Mr White.

While Mr Cox lay on the ground Mr White was said to have hit him in the face at least 11 times with the 2ft long pole.

The court heard that Mr Cox suffered a fractured skull and his face was distorted. Pathologist Dr David Rouse detailed more than 40 separate injuries on the body.

But during his evidence at the trial Mr White told the court he had acted in self-defence as he feared for his own life.

He said he continued to strike Mr Cox while he was on the ground to stop him getting up and continuing to attack him.

Mr White, who described Mr Cox as "vermin", said he showed up on his land on April 22 last year armed with a pole.

Having fetched his crossbow Mr White said he heard Mr Henty shouting from the paddock and then saw Mr Cox hitting him.

Mr White said Mr Cox then went for him so he fired the crossbow. "It didn’t stop him," he said. "It just made him worse - made him even more determined. I had no time to try and escape."

Mr White said Mr Cox then hit him with the pole, at which point Mr Henty struck Mr Cox to the back of his head with the shovel.

It was then that Mr White said he attacked Mr Cox with the pole. "I just picked it up and hit him with it...he was trying to get up. He could try and kill us again...I was still frightened he was going to get up, because he was still moving.

"The threat was still there....it was just a couple of minutes of madness - sheer panic."

Both Mr White and Mr Henty, of Bramley Drive, Cranbrook, denied murder. The jury were also asked to consider a charge of manslaughter.

During his summing up Mr Justice Calvert-Smith told the jury that if they found Mr White not guilty of both charges then they had to clear Mr Henty also.

Mr Henty, who did not give evidence, broke down crying as the verdicts were read out, while relatives sobbed in the public gallery. Mr Cox’s wife, Sarah, also left court in tears.

She and her husband lived next door to the kennels with their children but had been planning to emigrate to Australia. An offer had been accepted on their £650,000 house and the business sold.

The court heard there had been friction between Mr Cox and Mr White, starting when Mr Cox complained to the local council about barking dogs in 2003.

Mr White then claimed that Mr Cox had cut a fence on his property, pulled out an electric cable, thrown dead poisoned rabbits into the kennels and even put a dead badger in his bed.

The jury was told at the end of the trial that Mr Henty’s father, 63-year-old John Henty, of Dorothy Avenue, Cranbrook, had earlier admitted perverting the course of justice by disposing of the crossbow. He has yet to be sentenced.