Guery Edmond, a taxi driver who ran over a man on April 29, 2012 has been acquitted on charges of assault, dangerous driving and fleeing the scene of an accident.

The long-awaited verdict came down Thursday at around 10:30 a.m.

A beaming Edmond said that he was "more than relieved," at the verdict. "I want to thank all my fellow taxi drivers, all of Quebec and Canadian society and the people all around the world who offered their support during this case," he said.

The incident, which was caught on video, resulted in Benoit Kapelli, 25, suffering a perforated bladder and several broken ribs after being run over by Edmond while fleeing the crowd at Rachel and the Main.

Edmond's lawyer argued that he ran over the man because he felt threatened by the menacing behaviour of the passengers who had just exited his taxi.

“His intention was never to hit anybody, so I think it was accidental. He was trying to take off and this is how he happened to hit that individual,” said Edmond’s lawyer Yves Vaillancourt.

The judge accepted the self-defence argument, pointing out that most of the eyewitnesses were probably too intoxicated that night to give a reliable account of what truly happened. The judge said that the victim was intoxicated and belligerent at the time of the accident. Kapelli has since returned to live in France.