Emotional NRL player agent Paul Sutton is extremely relieved to be reprieved from a manslaughter trial but feels for the deceased man's family, his lawyer says.
The prosecution withdrew its manslaughter charge against Mr Sutton on the third day of his trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court after conceding they were unable to prove he wasn't acting in self defence.
The Crown had argued Mr Sutton used unreasonable force by throwing 43-year-old former bush jockey Shaun Miles to the ground during an altercation in a Kingaroy pub in May 2013.
The court was told tensions rose when Mr Miles thought he heard Mr Sutton make a disparaging comment about the attractiveness of local women, and swung a punch at him in the hotel's beer garden.
Mr Miles suffered a skull fracture when his head hit the concrete ground and despite being able to walk out of the hotel unassisted, he was later found dead near his home.
However the charge was withdrawn after Justice Martin Burns raised concerns about the Crown's ability to prove to the jury that Mr Sutton wasn't acting in self defence.
Emotions were running high outside the court after the trial was discontinued.
"It's a very trying time for my client and the family of the deceased," lawyer Paul McGirr said.
"Out the front of the court the family very fairly hugged my client and said they never wanted it to go this far.
"It's just a tragedy.
"He (Mr Sutton) never meant to do what he did ... he was always acting in self defence but still feels for the deceased and the family."
Mr Sutton manages a number of NRL players including Manly's Kieran Foran and St George Illawarra's Josh Dugan.
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