A FAIRGROUND worker has been cleared of killing a man outside an Evesham kebab shop.

Mr Justice Morland instructed the jury at Worcester Crown Court to find Richard Parker not guilty of the manslaughter of Sorren Prosser on day five of the trial.

His decision followed legal submissions by Parker's barrister Rachel Brand that the prosecution evidence was "unreliable and inconsistent".

Parker, aged 21, was also cleared of assaulting fellow fairground worker Marcus Raggett and causing him actual bodily harm on the directions of the judge. He had denied the charges.

He admitted an alternative charge of assaulting Mr Raggett by beating and was sentenced to one day's jail.

The judge directed that Parker, of Birkenhead, should be released immediately from jail after spending five months in custody on remand.

Mr Prosser, a 26-year-old fitter, of Cornmill, Elmley Castle, near Evesham, died on October 11 last year from irreversible brain damage, five days after being punched in the face near the Bodrum Kebab Shop in Evesham's High Street.

Only one witness, Ben Hulse, 18, identified Parker as the aggressor.

But he gave evidence that he was inside the kebab shop ordering food at the time.

The judge told the jury yesterday that Mr Prosser had been trying to calm down a woman who was the worse for drink when he was punched.

"The prosecution asserts that the defendant delivered the fatal punch," he said. "Apart from Ben Hulse, whose evidence was manifestly unreliable, the prosecution evidence supports Parker's case that he did not strike the fatal blow."

Parker, who was in Evesham working on the Mop Fair, called at the kebab shop with friends.

Mr Prosser tried to calm down an aggressive woman from Parker's group and was then knocked out by a single punch.

A row broke out between Parker and Mr Raggett over a pair of speakers. But a security video showed Mr Raggett grabbing Parker by the collar and passing a fist across his face.

He was eventually floored by a punch from the defendant.

Parker maintained his back was to Mr Prosser when he heard "a crack" and then saw him lying on the ground.

After the case, West Mercia Police and the Crown Prosecution Service said: "We obviously respect the court's decision.

"Our thoughts and sympathies are with Sorren Prosser's family."