One of the men accused of the Ice Queen murder of Tekle Zion Mallory walked free from an emotion-filled court yesterday afternoon after the judge deemed there to be insufficient evidence against him.

The mother of accused Everett Jahni Bean dropped to her knees and wailed in relief outside Supreme Court One after Assistant Justice Archibald Warner directed the jury to find him not guilty. And Mr. Mallory's mother sat in the public gallery, with her head in her hands, and sobbed hard, as she was comforted by her son's father and close family.

Mr. Bean, 20, from Warwick, was jointly accused of the murder of Mr. Mallory in July 2001 along with his cousin Quincy Stanley (Jimbo) Brangman, 24.

The prosecution had claimed that Mr. Bean held Mr. Mallory, while Brangman stabbed him in the abdomen, causing massive internal injuries.

However, the defence had claimed throughout that Mr. Bean was merely trying to pull the deceased away from the fight. And on Friday, Mr. Bean's counsel, Frank Phipps QC and Patrick Doherty, submitted a no case to answer application to the judge.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Bean was declared not guilty and was told to immediately exit the dock and the court, leaving his cousin Brangman behind on trial.

When asked to comment to The Royal Gazette about his release, young father Mr. Bean would only say: "Everything is cool." However, his mother Kathy Bean, a prison officer and reserve Police officer, sent her sympathies to the Mallory family, but said she always knew her son was innocent. "I thank God for prayers answered," she said.

"This has been a hard 18 months. I want to thank my family and friends for their support. My heart goes out to the Mallory family and my prayers go to them.

"Justice has been served. I always believed he was innocent. My son has always maintained his innocence and knew that he would be walking today."

Ms Bean said her family and close friends would be celebrating at home last night, and her son would be spending time with his three-year-old son after being remanded in custody since the day of the brawl.

"I'm just very relieved. I'm happy to be able to spend a night at home with my son once again."

But yesterday, the murder victim's father Tuba Mallory said he was disappointed at the outcome.

"This is no justice," he said. "The victim suffers more than anybody."

The acquitted man's father, Everett Eugene Wellman, said the last 18 months had been hard on everyone involved, not least Mr. Mallory's family. "I would like to say I'm sorry to the Mallory family," he said. "I want to send my condolences to them. This has been a long, drawn-out process, with justice delayed and justice denied. I'm still grieving over the loss of my friend Tuba Mallory's son. We play soccer together and we do a lot for the youth together in Somerset. In this case, no one has won. We have all suffered a great deal. I just hope and pray that everybody in this ordeal will be able to work through this."

Mr. Wellman said the 18 months on remand had had a great impact on his son, who was only 19 when he was first charged. He added: "I am both glad and sad today. I'm glad he is released, but I'm sad he has had to go through this ordeal. He is just a young man and he has suffered many days and many nights."