A heating and plumbing contractor has been found not guilty of the manslaughter of a woman who died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
46-year-old Richard Davis of Ballygarvan in Co Cork was also acquitted of two charges under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act.
The company he was a director of - Davis Heating and Plumbing Contractors - was also acquitted.
Miriam Reidy was found dead, and her sister Patricia in a distressed condition, in a room of the Trident Hotel in Kinsale in January 2011.
Ms Reidy, a bank official from Ballyhahill in Co Limerick, died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Throughout the three-week trial, Mr Davis denied all the charges. His company also pleaded not guilty to two similar charges under the act.
After deliberating for more than five hours, the jury of nine men and three women returned a majority verdict of not guilty on all five counts.
Speaking afterwards, a solicitor on behalf of Mr Davis said he did not want to make any formal statement out of respect to the late Ms Reidy and her family.
The State had argued that while Mr Davis did not set out to harm anyone, he had been grossly negligent in the conversion of a new boiler from natural gas to liquid petroleum gas, and had left it spewing out lethal quantities of carbon monoxide gas.
He had failed, they argued, to convert it correctly, to follow manufacturer's instructions, and to carry out a safety test with a meter when he finished the job.
Mr Davis did not give evidence during the trial but his interviews with gardaí were read to the jury in which he claimed his only crime was that he works too hard and takes people at their word.
He said he was told it was an easy chip conversion, and that is why he went ahead and converted (the boiler).
He accepts now that he got the wrong information from his supplier, and was extremely sorry for the hurt he caused to everyone involved, he said.
Ms Reidy's sister Patricia recalled waking up in intensive care and knowing that her sister was dead.
She described how cold the hotel room was even though the radiator was on and had fetched extra blankets for the beds.
Both of them fell ill during the night, and she texted her cousin to see if anyone else was unwell.
She wondered if their drinks had been spiked or if it was food poisoning. A doctor was called and gave them an injection for nausea.
Their cousin Marie Reidy spoke of becoming alarmed when there was no sign of the sisters the following day.
She knew something was wrong when she called to their room and heard Patricia moaning.
