A jury took just 45 minutes today to clear two teenagers of plotting to carry out a Columbine-style massacre at their school, prompting claims that the prosecution was a waste of public money.
Matthew Swift, 18, and Ross McKnight, 16, were accused of orchestrating an attack on pupils and teachers at Audenshaw High School on 20 April this year, the 10th anniversary of the rampage in Colarado by the teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
But the jury at Manchester crown court accepted the Swift's and McKnight's defence that they had been guilty only of indulging in a "fantasy" to channel teenage angst.
Police and prosecutors were criticised for pursuing the case against the pair, who had not been in trouble with the police before. One of the defence barristers said it had been an "unnecessary, heavy-handed prosecution" that had wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) insisted, however, that it had been in the public interest for the teenagers to be put before a jury.
McKnight's father, Ray, a serving police officer, declined to comment on the CPS's decision but said both his son and Swift had gone through "purgatory" and "absolute agony" after spending six months remanded in custody, McKnight at a young offenders' institute and Swift in Strangeways prison.
Outside Manchester crown court, Ross McKnight said: "I would like to make it clear that at no time was any person put at risk. This was just a fantasy. This was never a reality. I would just like to say that during my time in custody, I have taken my GCSEs. I hope that my wish to join the army has not been harmed."
The prosecution had claimed the best friends, from Denton in Greater Manchester, were obsessed with the Columbine killers Harris, 18, and Klebold, 17, who murdered 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves in 1999.
It was alleged Swift and McKnight had planned a similar murder spree against their own school, which they named Project Rainbow. They would also have planted a diversionary bomb at the Crown Point North shopping centre in Denton, the prosecution said.
The trial heard the teenagers had spent months chatting about the subject online, though much of the case was based on diaries kept by the pair full of hate-filled rants against the school and society.
No explosives or firearms were discovered after their arrest in March, when police were tipped off that McKnight had made a drunken telephone call to a female friend in which he boasted about carrying out the plan. The trial heard a second girl had received a message from McKnight saying: "If I ever text you not to come into school don't question it, just don't go in."
When police searched Swift's bedroom, they found a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook, which details how to manufacture explosive devices, and an imitation machine gun that fires ball bearings.
Inside a safe were plans of the school and details of how to use acetone peroxide as a detonator. Also inside the safe was a notepad containing detailed entries about the so-called Project Rainbow. On page one was written: "Ground Zero ... Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold will rise again."
In one note, Swift wrote: "Audenshaw high will be no more. Unlike Columbine, my propane bomb will actually fucking explode and I will walk from classroom to classroom killing the fuck out of everybody, then maybe people will learn."
Swift is is an orphan and was brought up by his grandparents, having never known his father and lost his mother when he was aged 10. He told the jury his notes were "naive and pathetic ways to channel my teenage angst. I was 16 with a vivid imagination."
Giving evidence, Ray McKnight said his son was full of harebrained schemes, such as climbing Ben Nevis in winter or creating a dinghy service along local canals.
The jury cleared both teenagers of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.
McKnight's defence counsel, Roderick Carus QC, said it had been a weak case and possibly the "quickest acquittal of this apparent gravity" that he had experienced.
He said: "There is a generation gap here, perhaps because we don't understand how young people live on their computers, that we fail to understand."
Stephen Turner, the headteacher of Audenshaw High School, said both were "perfectly ordinary boys" while at school, and they had done well in their examinations.
During the investigation, the police flew two detectives to Colorado to question the homicide department that investigated the Columbine killings. Later, that case's lead investigator, Kate Battan, was flown to Manchester.
Yesterday, Constable Terry Sweeney, responsible for criminal justice at Greater Manchester police, said: "We presented the evidence we had to the Crown Prosecution Service and, together as a prosecution team, it was felt it was in the public's interest to take this matter before the courts."Ultimately, as part of a fair judicial process, it is for a jury to decide whether there is sufficient evidence for a conviction. In this case, the jury took the decision not to convict, and we respect their decision."
John Lord, reviewing lawyer at the CPS, said: "The case brought against Matthew Swift and Ross McKnight was, we believe, one that was as equally strong as serious ... As such, we felt it was in the public interest to ensure that the charges against the defendants were given the full scrutiny of a jury."
Two teenagers in the United Kingdom have been acquitted of planning a high school massacre similar to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in the United States. Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have been criticised for bringing the case to trial.

Matthew Swift, 18, and Ross McKnight, 16, were cleared of accusations they planned a copycat attack at their school in Manchester to coincide with the April 20 anniversary of the original mass shooting. They had been charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property. Swift and McKnight have spent the last six months behind bars on remand, Swift in prison and McKnight a young offenders institute.

Police had thought they had found a criminal plot when they were alerted after a girl received a drunken phone call from one boy talking about a school shooting. They discovered a second girl had received a text saying "If I ever text you not to come into school don't question it, just don't go in." The pair were found to be in possession of ''The Anarchist Cookbook'' and a BB gun . No guns or explosives were found even though the prosecution alleged to have video footage of the pair manufacturing explosives.

The prosecution case further focused on diary entries and plans talking of how they would perpetrate the "greatest massacre ever." "Audenshaw high," wrote Swift "will be no more. Unlike Columbine, my propane bomb will actually fucking explode and I will walk from classroom to classroom killing the fuck out of everybody, then maybe people will learn."

The 2007 plans were alleged by prosecutors to have included a diversion bomb away from the school, which was the main target, even though they also suggested attacks on several other buildings. Swift explained that his writings were "naive and pathetic ways to channel my teenage angst. I was 16 with a vivid imagination." The defense had focused on the notion that the plot was pure fantasy.

Supporting this was testimony, including that of McKnight's police officer father Ray, that the duo had plenty of other weird and wonderful schemes. Much as the shooting idea had come from Michael Moore's documentary ''Bowling for Columbine'', so too had they discussed living off the land in Alaska after watching ''Into the Wild''. Other ideas included a winter mission to climb Ben Nevis and launching a dinghy service on local canal routes.

The five men and seven women that comprised the jury agreed, and took just 45 minutes to reject the charges. They even waited for defence counsel so they could wave and smile at them. It was, according to McKnight's lawyer Roderick Carus QC, perhaps the "quickest acquittal of this apparent gravity" he had ever witnessed. He said the case was a weak one that should never have gone to court. One of the lawyers on the case described the teens as victims of an "unnecessary, heavy-handed prosecution" that was a waste of several hundred thousand pounds.

British officers working the case flew to the United States to speak with those that worked upon the Columbine massacre. Later, the former head of the Columbine investigation traveled to the UK.

Ray McKnight did not comment on the decision to try the case, but he did say both defendants had experienced "purgatory" and "absolute agony" while imprisoned. "We are all just incredibly relieved," he said, stating that he never doubted his son's innocence for a moment. His son read the following statement outside Manchester Crown Court: "I would like to make it clear that at no time was any person put at risk. This was just a fantasy. This was never a reality. I would just like to say that during my time in custody, I have taken my GCSEs. I hope that my wish to join the army has not been harmed."