TV star Stephen Tompkinson has been found not guilty of previous bodily harm after he was accused of punching someone to the ground.
The DCI Banks actor let out a sigh of relief in the dock as the judge thanked the jury.
Alleged victim Karl Poole walked out of the court showing no emotion after the court was adjourned.
The jury came to their decision in less than two hours, reports the Mirror.
The 57-year-old stood trial accused of punching Karl Poole to the ground after he was drunkenly making noises outside his home in the early hours of May 30, 2021 - he was alleged to have left Poole with traumatic brain injuries.
The Ballykissangel actor had consistently denied punching Poole, 48, in the early morning row two years ago.
On Thursday, a jury at Newcastle Crown Court found Tompkinson not guilty of assault causing grievous bodily harm, after a trial which began on May 3.
Tompkinson denied the charge, demanding that he did not punch Mr Poole and was “not responsible” for the double skull fracture he sustained when his head hit the pavement.
He claimed that he put his hand out to stop Mr Poole coming towards him and making contact with his face but that it “wasn’t enough to knock a sober man off his feet”.
While on the stand Tompkinson, who has appeared in Wild at Heart and Drop the Dead Donkey, said it would be ”career suicide to do something as outrageous as assault someone".
Poole was said to be in a drunken state, alongside his pal Andrew Hall, whilst lying on the pavement outside the property in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
According to reports Poole was dressed only in his underpants and socks after a dawn dip in the North Sea, when Tompkinson went over to them at around 5.30am.
The star, who was living with his girlfriend and her seven-year-old child, alleged that after informing the pair the police had been called, it became a "very frightening situation."
Tompkinson recounted that the men got to their feet, and unsteadily started to move towards him.
He told the court that he put his hands on Mr Hall, and "guided" him to the ground, then saw Mr Poole coming towards him.
The actor said: “I didn’t want to hurt him, I wanted to stop him to change his mind about coming towards me and further onto my property.”
Tompkinson said as he went to make a ‘stop’ motion, his hand connected with the left side of Poole’s face and that he went to the floor because of his “unsteadiness”.
He revealed how he had missed out on parts and been unable to work as he waited two years for the case to come to court.
Mr Poole told the court he had “absolutely zero” memory of that night when giving evidence.
Prosecuting, Michael Bunch said the ”claim of aggressive behaviour by the two men is simply not supported by any of the evidence in the case".
He added: ”The truth is that the defendant’s story is nothing more than a weak attempt by him to deflect blame onto others for what were his wholly unjustified aggressive actions.”
He claimed Tompkinson had ”elaborated on his story as time has gone on”.
Mr Bunch said that after Mr Poole had ”gone to the floor”, the defendant filmed the pair on his phone, but did not contact the emergency services, with a neighbour, who had seen the interaction, ringing them.
The prosecutor also told the court that a neighbour saw Tompkinson punching Poole ”to the head with his left fist” after slapping him at first.
Nicholas Lumley, KC, defending, said the scientific evidence showed that the injuries to Poole were consistent with him being pushed, rather than punched.
Mr Lumley told the jury that there were no injuries to Poole's face, which would have been caused by a punch.
The defence case ended on May 9 with a series of personal witness statements on behalf of the star. They came from actors, directors and TV executives. All 10 praised him, saying how calm he was under pressure.
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