Craig Chalmers has been warned as to his future conduct after being cleared of misconduct at an independent disciplinary hearing.

The Melrose head coach and former Scotland fly-half faced action from Scottish Rugby over allegations he and centre Jamie Murray acted in an “abusive, insulting, intimidating or offensive manner” towards a match official at a function during last month’s Melrose Sevens tournament.

A disciplinary panel convened by Scottish Rugby on Wednesday night found it would have been unjust to uphold any misconduct charge against Chalmers due to the inconsistency of the oral evidence provided. The verdict will be a relief to the 41-year-old, who spent a night in the cells and was given a £60 fixed penalty after being arrested for a breach of the peace during the weekend of April 10, when the Melrose Sevens took place.

The incident which resulted in his arrest is separate from that which took place on the same day and led to a Scottish Rugby inquiry, triggered by a complaint by the Border Rugby Referees’ Society.

Scottish Rugby said in a statement: “The panel heard from nine witnesses, whose evidence did not paint a consistent picture of the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged incident, though the panel did determine there was an atmosphere of unpleasantness towards the match officials within the Melrose club’s Eildon Suite.