Building worker Paul Reilly, 20, was acquitted by a jury of manslaughter at the end of a three-week trial.
The verdict was greeted by cheers from Mr Reilly’s friends and family in the public gallery.
Mr Reilly, who had been in custody since the incident the previous July, punched the air. He shouted “thank you, thank you” to jurors from the dock as he was discharged.
Mr Reilly denied killing Michael Bush, a 37-year-old dad-of-three at his pub, The Mitre in Copenhagen Street.
The jury was told trouble flared at the reception, which Mr Bush arranged for his wife’s sister. Over an hour, £400 of booze (equivalent of £1,000 today) was consumed and fighting broke out.
Mr Bush tried to act as the peacemaker but was hit as fists flew. He collapsed and was taken to hospital, where he died of a brain haemorrhage four days later.
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