A MAN accused of robbery and attempted murder in Kilwinning and Irvine has been cleared after the charges against him were deserted.

Dylan Shanks, 23, had been accused of attempting to murder two people with the intent of robbing them at a property in Seaton Terrace, Irvine on January 14, 2021.

Shanks also faced allegations of attempting to murder another man with the intent to rob him in connection with an incident in Kilwinning on February 19 that year, and of leaving the man severely injured, permanently disfigured and impaired.

But the Crown confirmed this week that it would not be proceeding with the case in respect of either allegation.

Shanks was jailed for two years earlier this week after pleading guilty to robbing a group of four young men in an Irvine underpass on February 26.

That offence was committed while he was the subject of a bail order granted at the High Court in Lanark over the Irvine and Kilwinning matters from 2021.

But Shanks’ solicitor told the sentencing hearing for the February robbery: "He appeared in a High Court last week for trial and was aqcuitted of all matters.”

Shanks had been accused of acting along with an accomplice at the Seaton Terrace property, while masked and armed with a hammer and a knife, demanding cash from a man and woman and demanding drugs from the man.

Prosecutors accused Shanks of repeatedly striking the man on the head and body with the hammer to his "severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life".

The Crown also claimed he attacked the woman with both a hammer and a knife, leaving her unconscious, severely injured, permanently disfigured and endangering her life.

In relation to the Kilwinning incident, the prosecution claimed he asked another man for money, pushed him and struck him on the head with a sharp implement, leaving the man severely injured, permanently disfigured and impaired, to the danger of his life.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the Crown decided that there should be no further proceedings at this time.

"The Crown reserves the right to proceed in the future should further evidence become available."