William Wareham was killed in an altercation outside the Park Inn Hotel in Harlow
A man who punched a colleague during a row at a work Christmas party has been cleared of manslaughter.
William Wareham, 53, was fatally injured at the Bupa healthcare party at the Park Inn Hotel in Harlow, Essex, in December last year.
Bradley Casey, 21, of Thetford, Norfolk, said he acted in self-defence and his actions were reasonable.
A jury took 30 minutes to find him not guilty at the end of a four-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
'Reasonable force'
Mr Casey claimed trouble flared when a taxi he had ordered for midnight, to take a group into town to continue drinking, did not arrive.
As the row continued, Mr Wareham, a project manager, had jabbed a cigarette stub into Mr Casey's mouth, the IT worker said.
He responded to the older man's action with "panic" and struck him in the jaw.
The single punch caused Mr Wareham to fall backwards and hit his head on the pavement. He died in hospital within 36 hours.
The judge in his summing up had told the jury they had to decide whether Mr Casey had used "reasonable force" to defend himself.
Mr Casey stood trembling in the dock and wept as the jury foreman announced "not guilty."
He made no comment as he left the court.
