Oliver Dearlove: Man who killed banker with one punch cleared of murder charge

Trevor Timon had already admitted manslaughter after delivering a 'powerful' left hook to Mr Dearlove's head

Oliver Dearlove, pictured with girlfriend Claire Wheatley, was knocked out with a single punch from Trevor Timon (Metropolitan Police/PA)

A man who killed a banker with a single punch has been cleared of his murder.

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

The 31-year-old plasterer, had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but was found not guilty of the more serious murder charge.

Timon, who had a history of violence, denied intending to seriously hurt the 30-year-old and said he was just "pissed off" at one of his friends for making a racist comment.

Mr Dearlove, a relationship manager at Duncan Lawrie Private Bank, who had previously at Couttes, the bank used by the Queen, was eating and drinking with old University of Portsmouth friends in Blackheath, south-east London, on 27 August last year.

After a dispute erupted after a "polite" chat about baby pictures, Timon punched Mr Dearlove, who died about 24-hours later.

Mr Dearlove's friend Andrew Cook said: "He (Timon) was looking for a fight. Not a nice guy. We didn't know why, it all happened so quickly."

Timon, from Plumstead, south-east London, who is mixed race, claimed one of Mr Dearlove's friends called him a "half chap".

Afterwards, he fled to Ireland to see his mother and sent a series of messages to a close female friend apologising for what happened before handing himself in to police.

He told the witness, who cannot be identified, that he had "mad love" for her, saying: "I'm scared, seriously, proper. I never ever meant to do it ... I'm sorry really from the bottom of my heart."

He will be sentenced at the Old Bailey later this week.