One of Britain's most notorious property barons who was jailed for killing a
business rival was set free today after winning a legal battle to clear his
name.
Nicholas van Hoogstraten had served a year in prison after being convicted of the manslaughter of father-of-six Mohammed Raja.
But he left the Old Bailey today with his lawyers after the Court of Appeal agreed that the prosecution's case against him did not stand up legally.
The man once described as Britain's youngest millionaire may now consider sueing for wrongful imprisonment.
Hoogstraten (58) from Uckfield, East Sussex, had been cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter of Mr Raja at the Old Bailey last year. He was jailed for 10 years.
He won the right to a retrial when his conviction was quashed in July by the Court of Appeal.
His lawyers had successfully argued that Hoogstraten's conviction last year was unsafe.
Hoogstraten's defence team then went on to argue that there was no case left for him to answer and that there was a complete lack of evidence on which a jury could convict.