A Plumstead man who admitted the one-punch manslaughter of banker has been cleared of murder.

Trevor Timon, 31, was found not guilty of murder at the Old Bailey today.

Oliver Dearlove was killed on a night out with friends in Blackheath in the early hours of August 28 last year.

He was waiting for a pre-booked taxi to arrive where Timon approached Oliver and his friends.

Timon hit Oliver in an unprovoked attack, punching him with such force that the pathologist stated that it had caused a catastrophic injury.

Oliver was taken by the London Ambulance Service to the Royal London Hospital where he died at approximately 10pm the following night, surrounded by his grieving and shocked family.

A post-mortem examination was conducted at Greenwich Mortuary on August 29 and confirmed - at the trial - that the cause of death was traumatic basal subarachnoid haemorrhage. 

Timon instead pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will be sentenced tomorrow, February 24.

Joy Wright, Oliver's mother, said: "The brutal and unnecessary killing of Oli has left a gaping hole in our family.

"Oliver was a quiet unassuming, modest boy who grew into a confident, friendly, non-confrontational young man. Oliver worked hard at everything he did and in his short life achieved a great deal.

"Regardless of the sentence Timon receives, nothing will bring our Oli back. We have endured the worst time of our lives in the past seven months including sitting through a trial reliving Oli's last moments. His autopsy report was horrendous for us all.

"Oliver will never marry, have children, or indeed watch his nephews grow up. He has a nephew born on the 12th February, named Oliver after him, who he will never hold.

"He will never sit out on our table and eat with us, or laugh. I will never hug him or see him walk through my door again.

"We have been robbed, but more to the point, Oli has been robbed of an amazing and fulfilled future.

"He was planning a life with his girlfriend Claire, which has been cruelly halted; no one has the right to take another's life and for no reason at all.

"The actions of others have been remarkable; the young couple that came to Oli's aid and gave him CPR, which enabled us to say goodbye to him whilst he was warm and breathing, all be it on life support machine.

"Also the support they gave Oli's friends with their trauma.

"But the difference being, the four young mothers who walked away and left him lying on the pavement, one of them saying in the witness box under oath that she saw Oli being given CPR, but didn't think it was that serious.

"Our heartfelt thanks go to the young couple.

"We have to start our lives again now without Oli, it is like a life sentence."

Detective Chief Inspector Lee Watling said: "This is a tragic case where a young man has needlessly lost his life because of Timon's uncontrolled violence. There was no reason for him to attack Oliver that night. 

"No length of prison sentence will end the suffering that Oliver's family and girlfriend have gone through, and continue to endure."