A man accused of threatening to attack anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders with an axe has been found not guilty by judges in Maastricht.

The public prosecution department had called for a four year jail term but the court said the prosecutor had failed to prove that the man wanted to injure or kill the PVV leader.

The 61-year-old was picked up at a PVV election campaign event in Maastricht shortly before Wilders arrived. He was found to be carrying two Stanley knifes and an axe and reportedly told a police officer that he wanted to ‘hit that pig on the head’.

The court said it believed the comment had been made, but that the police officer the suspect spoke to was known to him. The suspect told the court he thought the officer would see the humour in what he said.

The man, who has a slight mental disability, gave varying explanations for why he was carrying the knives and the axe but this was not enough to render him guilty, the court said. In addition, the man did not have a criminal record.

Wilders responded to the not-guilty verdict by saying on Twitter that the Dutch court system had gone mad.