LONDON — A 20-year-old Asian man has been cleared of all charges in the aftermath of a racially-charged incident earlier this year. In March of 2016, Sidney Chan and a group of his friends were on their way home from a night on the town in London.

As they passed the Royal Albert Hall, a man started calling out racial slurs in their direction, telling them to “F--- off back to China,” among a handful of other unfriendly comments. The group of friends tried to steer clear of the man, named Stephen Kent, but he kept on coming, and started running toward them. Kent then grabbed a female in the group and started spouting sleazy comments at her.

Sidney Chan stepped in and pushed Kent off his friend, but Kent retaliated with a swing. At that point, to protect his friends from the violent man, Chan did what he had to do as a matter of self-defense. Kent ended up with a fractured nose, a fractured eye socket, and a heavy concussion, injuries he tried to make Chan pay for.

On Nov. 25, a jury unanimously found Chan not guilty of wounding with intent.