Photo: Facebook

Cory Van Gilder was released from custody Wednesday.

For Tammey Van Gilder, the mother of the man found not guilty of manslaughter Tuesday, her year-long nightmare is finally over.

Cory Van Gilder was released from custody Wednesday afternoon, after his breach of conditions charge was dismissed by the Crown.

Despite a 12-person jury finding him not guilty of manslaughter Tuesday afternoon, he remained in custody overnight, as he still faced an outstanding breach of conditions charge from a Nov. 25, 2016 incident.

Following the dismissal of the last charge, Tammy said she was proud of her son, who she described as having “the biggest heart.”

She took particular exception to the Crown characterizing her son's fatal strike as a “sucker punch,” as Van Gilder and the victim, Zachary Gaudette, were facing each other when the punch was thrown.

“My son simply defended himself and a group of people who he felt were being placed in an extremely dangerous situation,” she wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday morning. “I raised my kids to protect the ones who are being bullied and to protect the girls from violence.

“Label him a hero, not a criminal.”

Gaudette, 30, was killed on Feb. 17, 2016, when Cory Van Gilder hit him with a single punch outside the Cactus Club Cafe on Banks Road. Several witnesses testified that Gaudette, who was extremely intoxicated at the time, approached the large crowd outside of the restaurant and challenged anyone to a fight.

Van Gilder had prior mixed martial arts training and had competed in one sanctioned MMA fight in 2010. 

On surveillance footage shown in court, Van Gilder was seen moving towards Gaudette, who turned to face Van Gilder. Within seconds, Van Gilder hit Gaudette in the side of the neck, causing him to fall to the ground. Gaudette died in the hospital two days later.

Van Gilder was interviewed by police on Feb. 23 about the incident, but the manslaughter charge wasn't laid until July.

Following the charge, he remained out of custody on bail until Nov. 25, when he was arrested again, the details of which were initially protected under a publication ban.

The Crown said that police found Van Gilder involved in an altercation on Bernard Avenue at 2 a.m. When police attempted to detain him, he ran away, eventually getting tasered three times by police and arrested. He was found to be intoxicated, a breach of his bail conditions.

He later apologized to the arresting officers at the RCMP detachment, explaining that he had run because he was in breach of his conditions.

Following the November incident, Justice Vincent Horgan revoked Van Gilder's bail, saying he had “demonstrated that alcohol is a problem for him” and calling him a “risk to public safety.”

Van Gilder spent the next seven months incarcerated, until he was found not guilty Tuesday and his breach of conditions charge was dropped Wednesday.

He was greeted by his family at the Kelowna courthouse upon his release.