A pensioner who was accused of killing his partner and then confessing to his pet cats was cleared of murder and manslaughter today – and then hugged by members of the jury before leaving the courtroom.

Mr Henton, 73, from Neath, South Wales, was accused of brutally bludgeoning his long-term partner, Joyce Sutton, to death after "snapping" in January 2006.

There were gasps from the public gallery at Swansea Crown Court as the forewoman of the jury declared Mr Henton not guilty of either murder or the alternative charge of manslaughter.

After a seven-week trial in which they heard that police secretly bugged his home and car and apparently caught him confessing murder to pets Twinkie and Pudsey, jurors had taken 12 hours of deliberation to reach their verdict.

Mr Justice Grigson thanked the jury of nine women and three men for their patience during the 41 days of the trial. As Mr Henton was led from court by his solicitors, the family of Joyce Sutton hurled abuse at him.

Anna Sutton, Mrs Sutton's daughter-in-law, had to be held back from attacking the pensioner in the foyer area outside Court No.1.

In a rare breach of normal courtroom protocol, Mr Henton was then approached by members of the jury, who hugged and congratulated him, the Press Association reported.

Legal experts and officials said that they had never heard of jurors approaching a defendant after a trial and questioned the propriety of such behaviour.

Detective Sergeant Dave Peart of South Wales Police said: "We acknowledge the not guilty verdict at Swansea Crown Court earlier today. Out thoughts are with the family of Joyce Sutton. They can be assured that we will continue to support them where we can."

He added: "No decision has yet been made as to whether the case will be reopened."

The court heard during the lengthy trial that Mrs Sutton had been battered around the head with a mystery blunt object in what at first appeared to have been a break-in.

Investigations subsequently established that nothing was missing from the property despite large sums of money being found in the house. Tiny shards of glass from the back door pane were also later found in Mr Henton’s car and on his clothes.

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