A CO Tyrone man acquitted of the manslaughter of 19-year-old Jason McGovern after three trials will be sentenced for affray later this year.
Prosecutors offered no evidence on Tuesday against Mark Donnelly (23) who had been accused of the one-punch killing of the Co Monaghan teenager on New Years' Eve 2012.
The victim, from Tydavnet, was found dead in the home of a friend in the nearby village of Mullan hours after an attack in a car park following a night out in Omagh.
A post mortem revealed he had a fractured skull and died from resulting bleeding on the brain.
Prosecution lawyer Simon Reid told Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast yesterday, that the Crown was "offering no evidence" on the manslaughter charge.
Lady Justice Keegan then instructed the jury of seven men and five women to find Donnelly - a former motorcross champion from Greencastle Road, between Omagh and Cookstown - "not guilty by direction".
She said: "This case was due to start today for a hearing which would gave lasted a number of weeks.
"There have been developments in the case, and as a result of that, the prosecution are not offering any evidence on the charge before the court in relation to the defendant.
"I am directing you to find the defendant not guilty."
A year ago a jury deliberated on the charge for more than four hours over two days before reporting they had reached a stalemate which could not be resolved with more time.
That was the second time a jury had failed to reach a verdict in the case.
Another trial also had to be aborted for legal reasons.
During the last trial Donnelly maintained that he was wrongly identified by witnesses as being a man in the white shirt who threw a single punch which led to Mr McGovern's death hours later.
However, he still faces sentence for "having fought and made an affray" on the same night, during which Jason's friend Liam McWilliams had his jaw fractured outside the Terrace Bar in Omagh's John Street.
He was found guilty by a jury at a previous trial.
Following his acquittal on the manslaughter charge yesterday, Donnelly was informed he will be sentenced for affray in September and was then released on continuing bail.
