A man who thought he was Luke Skywalker when he set fire to a cottage has been acquitted of trying to murder 11 people.

Kieran Ridley, 32, was found not to be criminally responsible for his actions when he started the blaze in Mallaig, Lochaber, in October 2015.

Jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh returned a not guilty verdict on the sixth day of his trial on Friday.

During the proceedings, the court heard how Mr Ridley regularly abused cannabis, cocaine and ketamine.

The court was told he was diagnosed as suffering from "drug-induced psychosis" earlier in 2015.

Mr Ridley will not be released into the community after the verdict and will instead be sent to a mental health clinic for assessment by psychiatrists.

Judge Craig Scott made Mr Ridley the subject of an interim compulsion order and ordered he be brought before him again at another hearing next month.

He will then consider if Mr Ridley should continue to remain at a specialist facility until a time when professionals consider it appropriate to be released back into the community.

During proceedings, prosecutors and Mr Ridley's defence team agreed Mr Ridley started the blaze at the cottage.

They also agreed Mr Ridley then left property after starting the blaze and locked the front and back doors of the house in the knowledge that 11 people were inside.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Alistair Hay, 57, told jurors he assessed Mr Ridley at a mental health facility in Inverness shortly after the fire.

He said he believed Mr Ridley did not have a long-term mental health problem and said his behaviour could be attributed to his drug use.

Another psychiatrist who assessed Mr Ridley disagreed with Dr Hay's findings.

Mr Ridley told Dr James Finlayson he believed he was Luke Skywalker from the film Star Wars at the time of the fire.

His lawyer Herbert Kerrigan QC entered a not guilty plea on his client's behalf and lodged a special defence stating that Mr Ridley was not criminally liable for his actions.

Mr Ridley will be taken to Saughton Prison in Edinburgh for an initial assessment before being transferred to the Hallion Clinic in Perth ahead of his appearance at the High Court in Paisley in November.