Gable Tostee found not guilty

GABLE Tostee has been acquitted of all charges over the death of Warriena Wright, who fell from his 14th-storey apartment.

GABLE Tostee has been acquitted of both the murder and manslaughter of his Tinder date, Warriena Wright.

Gasps were heard in the back of the courtroom where Tostee’s family was sitting as the jury delivered their not guilty verdict about 3.20pm local time on Thursday.

Tostee himself appeared to show little emotion.

The jury had been deliberating since 12.35pm Monday.

Tostee walked out of the Brisbane Supreme Court building a free man shortly after the verdict was delivered.

In a brief statement to media, Tostee’s solicitor Nick Dore said the 30-year-old was looking forward to putting the matter behind him.

“He’s looking forward to moving on with his life,” he said.

“He thanks those people who have supported him through this and realises just how tragic this has been for many people.

“At this stage he is looking forward to to putting it behind him and considering his future from here.”

Tostee himself declined to comment.

He left surrounded by a massive media scrum with cries of “Tostee’s a pig” being shouted at him by passersby as he left.

Gable Tostee reacts as he leaves the Supreme Court in Brisbane a free man. Picture: Dave Hunt/AAP

Soon after, Deb Taylor, a friend of Ms Wright’s mother Marzabeth, read a statement on her behalf.

The New Zealand woman pleaded with media to respect her privacy as she continues to grieve the loss of her daughter.

“This has been an incredibly traumatic situation for everyone involved in this case, let alone the families who have been impacted by this,” she said.

“Warriena Wright’s family are still coming to terms with the loss of their daughter and sister as well as enduring the anguish of being present here for this trial for the last two weeks.

“And we’ve been quite overwhelmed by the media, which has added another layer of stress to the trauma we have already been experiencing.

“The family would like to make a request to all of you, to please respect our privacy now, and when they return back to New Zealand so they have an opportunity to pull the pieces of their own life back together again and so they also have the space to grieve in their own way and in peace.”

Ms Taylor also thanked Queensland police and investigators, as well as the Department of Prosecutions.

Homicide detective Inspector Damien Hansen said Ms Wright’s death would now be the subject of a coronial investigation.

He praised the “strength and courage” of Ms Wright’s family, throughout the trial.

“This was not a conventional homicide investigation, it was always acknowledged it would be a very difficult investigation from the start,” he said.

The jury delivered its verdict after a dramatic twist in the trial almost saw it thrown out of court.

Soon after the jury passed a note to Justice John Byrne saying they had reached a unanimous verdict before the lunch break, Crown prosecutor Glen Cash told the court he had recently discovered one of the jurors had been posting about her involvement in the trial on Instagram.

Tostee’s lawyer, Saul Holt, QC, made an application for the jury to be discharged.

After lengthy consideration, Justice Byrne decided that given the juror had not been posted specific details about the jury’s deliberations, there were not grounds for a mistrial.

He threw out the application and the jury then delivered the verdict.

It came on the ninth day of Tostee’s trial and four days after they retired to deliberate.

Tostee departs the Brisbane Supreme court. Pictures: Jack Tran

Gold Coast man Gable Tostee pictured here departing the Brisbane Supreme court today after being aquitted of murder. Pictures: Jack Tran

Ms Wright plunged to her death from Tostee’s 14th storey balcony in the early hours of August 8, 2014.

Jurors deliberating in the case were sent home just before 6pm on Wednesday night, after sending a note to Justice John Byrne requesting to.

They returned to the Brisbane Supreme Court for a fourth day of deliberations on Thursday.

On Tuesday, they told Justice Byrne they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, however, he sent them back to the jury room to continue deliberations in a bid to do so.

Tostee, a carpet layer, was charged with murder after New Zealand tourist Wright fell to her death from his 14th-floor Gold Coast balcony.

The pair matched on dating app Tinder and had spent the night drinking in Tostee’s apartment, before a series of violent confrontations erupted between them and Tostee shut the 26-year-old out on his balcony about 2am.

She fell to her death while attempting to climb to the balcony below.

Over a nine-day trial in Brisbane Supreme Court, the court was played an audiotape that Tostee made while inside the apartment that night that captured Ms Wright’s screams, which Crown prosecutor Glen Cash described as those of a person in “abject terror”.

He argued Ms Wright climbed over the balcony after being locked out there by Tostee because she felt she had no other escape option.

CCTV footage of Gable Tostee with Warriena Wright on the night she fell from his Gold Coast apartment.

However, defence barrister Saul Holt, QC, argued Tostee had been patient with Ms Wright, who he told jurors had thrown ornamental rocks at his client, before hitting him repeatedly on the head with the metal clamp of a telescope.

Mr Holt argued by locking his Tinder date on the balcony, Tostee was “de-escalating” the situation.

Warriena Wright and Gable Tostee took selfies together before their date turned violent. Picture: Supplied by Queensland Supreme Court/AAP

The six men and six women of the jury retired to deliberate shortly after 12.30pm Monday and came back to Justice John Byrne just after 3pm Tuesday saying they could not reach a unanimous verdict.

He sent them out for further deliberations, in a bid to reach a consensus.