A judge described how a teenager's tragic death after a "car-surfing" stunt went fatally wrong had left a small island community 'bruised and battered'.

Lord Morris gave his view after a jury cleared 19-year-old driver Matthew Duffy of causing the death of his pal Chris Findlay on the Orkney island of Stronsay.

After an emotional four-day trial, the judge said: "This has been an anxious and distressing case for all concerned. It is a small community, where one life has been taken, and it has been left bruised and battered."

And after Duffy walked free from the High Court in Inverness, a spokesman for the family of Mr Findlay said: "The tragic circumstances will always be present with them and with the wider community in which they live.

"No proceedings can ever alter that nor the fact that Chris, and the life he will now never have, will remain in the memory of his loved ones forever."

Duffy and his parents wept with relief as the not proven verdict was delivered on Thursday by a jury of eight women and seven men after just under two hours. The jury foreman said the verdict was by majority.

Duffy, who gave evidence on the third day of the trial, described how his car had already been moving when his friend, a plumber from the island, climbed onto the bonnet.

He said he panicked, but told the jury Mr Findlay had fallen from the car before he braked sharply.

The teenager, who was 17 at the time of the tragedy and held a provisional licence, said he froze at the sight of his pal on top of the Isuzu Trooper.

He told the court that he had travelled up to 65 yards along the waterfront road on Stronsay before Mr Findlay fell off.

Duffy said: "I froze. I suppose I panicked and did not know what to do. He started to fall off. As soon as he was clear of the bonnet I slammed on the brakes to stop the car."

The teenager, who intends to study agriculture in Aberdeen, said he immediately jumped out of the car to see if Mr Findlay was okay, but found him bleeding in the middle of the road. He checked his pulse and tried to make him comfortable by putting a jumper under his head.

Duffy, of Holland Farm, Stronsay, had been charged with causing Mr Findlay's death by dangerous driving on May 24, 2008.

Mr Findlay had struck his head on the ground and suffered several skull fractures. He died in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary four days later.