DARREN SAPSTEAD was cleared today of pushing an Irish tourist to his death off a Tenerife booze cruise nearly 17 years ago.
A Spanish jury acquitted the Essex kitchen fitter of any involvement in Garry Walton's death on November 7, 1996 after five hours of deliberations.
The decision marked the end of a long fight by Mr Sapstead, from South Woodham Ferrers, to clear his name.
He clapped his hands and shouted 'Yes' as his defence lawyer mouthed 'You're not guilty' in English seconds after the jury spokeswoman announced the unanimous 9-0 verdict in Spanish.
Garry's builder dad Robert, 60, originally from Leeds, west Yorkshire, but now living in Tooraneena, Dungarvan, south east Ireland, buried his head in his hands and wife Catherine, 59, stared silently ahead with tears in her eyes.
The distraught Walton family, who included Robert's sisters Debbie and Rachel, left the court in the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz afterwards by a back door without making any comment.
Darren, 38, extradited to Spain in 2005 and remanded in jail in Spain for eight months before being released and allowed to return to Britain on bail ahead of his three-day trial, said: "Justice has been served at the end of the day.The feeling I have is indescribable. It's been a long time but the truth has finally come out in the end.
"My statements on what happened the night Garry died never changed."
Darren, whose wife Joanne, son Nathan, 10, and daughter Nicole, 16, stayed behind in the UK, said: "I'm going to phone my family to give them the good news, go and eat a big T-bone steak to celebrate and then get on the first plane back home.
"I just want now to try to rebuild my shattered life. I lost a £300,000 business because of the time I was in jail in Spain and I've spent thousands of pounds trying to clear my name.
"I also lost a lot of time with my children when they were growing up.
"I feel sorry for Garry's family and I can understand why they're angry. "But they're blaming the wrong person. I don't know who if anyone killed their son but it wasn't me.
"The Spanish justice system is a joke. Nearly 17 years this has gone on for and there was no evidence.
"It should be innocent until proven guilty but I feel as if it's been the other way round."
The jurors were not asked to rule if Garry had died by accident or as a result of a crime.
The jury spokesman said they had reached their decision to clear Mr Sapstead of any involvement because of contradictions in the witness statements of two British sisters who only started incriminated him nearly a year later, expert forensic evidence Garry's body showed no signs of violence, and the fact the defendant had never changed his story.
Mr Sapstead was one of only five of the estimated 45 people on board the booze cruise vessel questioned by police the night Garry, 21, drowned off the popular resort of Playa de Las Americas.
He was allowed to return to Britain two days later and only the two British sisters, Katie and Lucy Smethurst, faced a second court quiz on the island.
The probe into Garry's death, initially classed as an accident by Spanish investigators, was reopened after the women accused Mr Sapstead of killing him in fresh statements they made to Manchester Police in September 1997.
They had said in previous statements Mr Sapstead was not responsible. He was extradited to Spain in December 2005 and remanded in jail before being allowed to return to the UK on bail while an investigating judge in Tenerife continued to probe Garry's death.
He was charged with intentionally killing Garry earlier this year and ordered to stand trial.
State prosecutors said they wanted Darren jailed for up to 12 years if he was convicted of Garry's homicide at the start of the trial on Monday.
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Essex kitchen fitter Darren Sapstead cleared of Tenerife booze cruise killing
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