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Nathan Smith had been accused of using excessive force when he grabbed Craig Wiltshire to stop him breaking into houses at night.

Mr Smith, 38, knelt on Wiltshire’s back as he lay in the road with his head twisted to one side for nine minutes.

CCTV recorded Wiltshire, 43, as he said repeatedly: “I can’t breathe.”

Mr Smith thought the burglar was trying to trick him and replied: “I don’t care what you can and can’t do.”

Wiltshire, who had a heart condition, died in hospital two weeks after the drama in Bristol in November 2019.

Prosecutors claimed full-time carer Mr Smith had been motivated by revenge as well as a desire to teach Wiltshire “a lesson.”

But the Bristol Crown Court jury cleared him of manslaughter, agreeing the force used was not excessive.

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The court had heard there had been night raids on homes, cars and sheds in the area before Mr Smith pulled Wiltshire off his bike after the thief was spotted on CCTV.

He said although he feared Wiltshire might have a weapon, he wanted to hold him until police arrived. “I had no intention to cause any harm other than detain him,” he said.

“He was fighting back. I did not think him saying ‘I can’t breathe’ was genuine. I thought he was trying to get me to let him up so he could escape or attack me.

“I was concerned he had a tool or weapon on him and did not want him to go into his pocket.

“I was just focused on detaining him and thinking, ‘I just hope the police hurry up’. At no time did I mean any harm to this male. I was simply making a citizen’s arrest.”

The cause of death was cardiorespiratory arrest and subsequent brain damage. A postmortem examination also revealed that Wiltshire had taken the sedative diazepam and the heroin-substitute methadone.

Mr Smith told jurors that Wiltshire’s death had affected him deeply: “It has been the worst two years of my life. I am currently on antidepressants. I used to be quite a happy person but now I just feel mostly sad.

“I don’t want to do anything any more and just keep myself to myself. I do my job and not much else.”

Jurors had been told to assume that Wiltshire was suspected of committing burglaries in the neighbourhood over the previous weeks, and that the incident was not a case of mistaken identity.

Two other men, Michael Crooks and his son Ben, admitted assaulting Wiltshire during the incident. They will be sentenced later.

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