A jury took just two hours last week to find Irish chef Conrad Gallagher innocent of stealing three paintings in December 2000 from the Peacock Alley restaurant he ran in Dublin's Fitzwilliam hotel.
Former Michelin star holder Gallagher, 32, broke down in tears as the jury at Dublin's Four Courts returned unanimous not-guilty verdicts on the sixth day of his trial.
Before celebrating in the Legal Eagle pub opposite the court, Gallagher said that he needed time alone to decide his future. Asked if he had any plans to return as a restaurateur, he replied: "I don't have any money left."
Gallagher - who was extradited in May from New York, where he had opened the Traffic Bar and Lounge in Manhattan - had pleaded not guilty to the theft charges.
He had also denied allegations that he raised £9,000 from a dealer under false pretences by pretending that the paintings were his to sell. The sale was said to have occurred three days before the chef claimed the art had been stolen from him.
John Kavanagh, hotel manager at the Fitzwilliam, told the court that Gallagher had told him the three paintings had been taken by "rough people" he owed money to and who had threatened to break his legs.