A 22-YEAR-OLD Enfield man walked clear from court after a three-year struggle to prove he is innocent of manslaughter.

Andrew Symeou cried with joy when a Greek court found him not guilty of killing Jonny Hiles in a nightclub in 2007.

Speaking to the Enfield Independent, Mr Symeou described the moment the verdict was delivered: “I thought I would be really happy, I thought I would be ecstatic but I wasn't.

“It was three years that shouldn't have happened, and all I wanted from day one was for evidence to be taken into consideration and to clear my name.

“To hear you name being finally cleared – I couldn't process it, it was extremely emotional.

“We all hugged and cried together and kept saying 'it's finally over'. Walking outside I had to be alone, I was in tears and called my girlfriend and told her. It was all very surreal really.”

Mr Symeou was on holiday in Zante in July 2007 when 18-year-old Mr Hiles died, after falling from a podium in Rescue nightclub during an evening out.

Greek prosecutors pointed the finger at Mr Symeou, claiming he had landed a punch on Mr Hiles to cause the fatal fall.

But the Enfield student vehemently denied any involvement saying he was not in the club at the time. Furthermore the Greek court heard Mr Symeou did not fit the description of the suspect.

Yet, he was extradited to Greece in 2009 before any evidence had been put before a judge, held in a notorious prison for ten months, and made to endure an agonisingly dragged out trial which had been postponed more than once.

At the end of the trial, the public prosecutor told the court he did not believe Mr Symeou was responsible, and a not guilty verdict was delivered soon afterwards.

Mr Symeou said the full extent of what has happened has not yet sunk in, but he added: “As I went back into the courtroom, Mr Hiles approached me, shook my hand, and we cried together. "Then he said: 'I believe you Andrew' and for me that was the closure I needed.”

He has been supported throughout the ordeal by his parents Frank and Helen, who moved out to Greece to be with him when he was extradited from the UK.

His father said Mr Symeou has a place to study psychology at Middlesex University, starting in September, and the family are hoping to fly back to Britain by the end of the week to begin the “daunting” task of getting back to normality.

MP for Enfield North Nick de Bois and London MEP Sarah Ludford are among the host of high profile voices who campaigned for justice for Mr Symeou, and welcomed the verdict.

While Mr de Bois hit out at the European Arrest Warrant used to extradite Mr Symeou to Greece before a case had been presented to a UK court, Baroness Ludford argued for European Court reform to ensure better safeguards are built into use of the warrant.