Trevor Timon cleared of Oliver Dearlove's murder after single-punch assault

A man who admitted killing a banker with one punch in an unprovoked attack has been cleared of murder.

Trevor Timon delivered a "powerful" left hook to Oliver Dearlove's head, knocking him unconscious, the Old Bailey heard.

The 31-year-old defendant, who had a history of violence, denied intending to seriously hurt Mr Dearlove, 31, and said he was just "p***** off" at one of his friends for making a racist comment.

Mr Dearlove never regained consciousness and died 24 hours after the attack.

Timon, an unemployed plasterer of Plumstead, southeast London, admitted manslaughter but was found not guilty of murder after the jury deliberated for three hours.

He will be sentenced on Friday morning.

Mr Dearlove's mother Joy Wright and girlfriend Claire Wheatley were in court throughout the trial.

Ms Wheatley appeared upset as she left the Old Bailey after the verdict.

The victim, who lived in New Eltham, southeast London, worked as a relationship manager at Duncan Lawrie Private Bank, having previously held a position at Coutts, the bank used by the Queen.

On 27 August he had been eating and drinking with old friends from Portsmouth University in Blackheath, southeast London.

At 12.30am, the group had left Zerodegrees microbrewery and walked past Mordens nightclub.

This was where Timon was at a birthday party, and the defendant had bought champagne for a group of women there.

Timon and the women then headed to get a taxi home, where they encountered Mr Dearlove and his friends.

The court heard differing accounts from Timon, the four women and Mr Dearlove's friends on what caused the violence to break out.

One of the women said she had a friendly chat with Mr Dearlove after she took off her high heels to nurse her sore feet.

She said Mr Dearlove was "polite" as he admired her baby pictures before Timon demanded to know what they were talking about.

Mr Dearlove's friend Andrew Cook said Timon was angry and came out of nowhere with "bad intentions".

Timon admitted telling the victim "if you don't get out of my face I will knock you out", but said it was just a "figure of speech".

The defendant, who is mixed race, said he was upset when one of the victim's friends laughed and called him a "half chap".

Afterwards, Timon fled to Ireland to see his mother but then later handed himself in to police.

The court was told about a string of violent and abusive incidents involving Timon to show how his past behaviour was at odds with his evidence.