TWO kebab shop workers accused of beating a pub-goer to death have been cleared of manslaughter.
Adman Hussein, aged 30, and Hasan Burunlu, aged 25, were alleged to have attacked 34-year-old Tony Else after he smashed the window of the Best Kebab Ye takeaway in Orpington.
Neither of the pair gave evidence but their barristers told the Old Bailey they had not thrown the first punch.
Mr Else, of Dawson Road, St Mary Cray, died after a fight outside the High Street kebab shop last June.
Rock Tansey QC, defending Hussein, told the jury Mr Else had been the aggressor in the brawl.
He also said the prosecution's main witness, Daniel Howard, was lying when he said he saw one of the defendants punch Mr Else.
Mr Tansey said: "If you look at the video evidence, Mr Howard was driving his van past the scene 11 seconds after the Crown says Mr Else was punched."
Describing Hussein as a man of good character, he added: "He is a good, decent, hard-working 30-year-old. There is no history or evidence of violence in this defendant."
The court heard, the delivery driver told police in interviews: "I see myself as not guilty.
"I have not done anything. I did not touch this boy in any way."
Mr Else had been on a night out with friends at the Harvest Moon pub in Orpington.
He broke a pane of glass in the front of the takeaway after discovering someone had pinched his girlfriend's bottom earlier in the evening.
Hussein, of London Road, Thornton Heath, and Burunlu, of Benthal Road, Stoke Newington, north London, were both cleared of manslaughter and violent disorder.
The prosecution had dropped a murder charge against the pair earlier.
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