As disgraced rugby league player Greg Bird's reckless wounding conviction was quashed, he turned and reached for the hand of the woman he was alleged to have glassed in the face.
With a wide smile and tears in his eyes he hugged and kissed Katie Milligan, his girlfriend of more than two years and the woman he was convicted of injuring during a domestic argument.
But their story - and the one his appeal judge ultimately believed - was that a "crazy" Ms Milligan, drunk and high on prescription medication, had been lunging at Bird with a glass when it broke against her eye.
Ms Milligan suffered a broken eye socket and cuts to her eye during the argument at the former NRL player's flat in August last year.
In June the former Cronulla Shark and Australian representative footballer was sentenced to at least eight months' jail time, with a maximum of 16 months, for recklessly wounding his American lover.
Bird, who now plays for the French team Catalans Dragons, in the English Super League, has been out on bail since lodging an appeal the same day.
In Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday, Judge Michael Finnane overturned the conviction, saying he believed the couple's story that Ms Milligan had been the aggressor in the argument, while Bird had acted in self-defence.
Ms Milligan had been "quite irrational" when she arrived at the flat that morning in an "agitated state" and had begun smashing things, ripping up photos and throwing flowers before coming at Bird with the glass, he said.
"(Bird) did not respond physically ... he did not strike her or shout at her," Judge Finnane said.
"What Mr Bird did was to grab the wrists of Ms Milligan as she was attempting to thrust the glass into his face ... clearly there was an intention of preventing her from striking him.
"He undoubtedly is a very strong man. Being a rugby league player he engages in a robust sport, but grabbing a wrist is in no sense a hostile act.
"Unfortunately, perhaps because he is stronger than her, her wrist was forced backwards (and the glass smashed against her face)."
Giving evidence earlier in the week, Ms Milligan said she was drunk and had been snorting her ADHD drugs "like cocaine" when she arrived at her boyfriend's flat in the early hours of the morning.
After he locked her out of their bedroom in an attempt to ignore her, she let herself in through the balcony and began "punching, scratching" and attacking Bird.
"I was just trying to get a reaction, it was very childish, very immature. I was just going crazy," Ms Milligan told the court.
"I had the glass in my hand and I just lunged at him."
Neither could explain how the glass broke, saying only that Ms Milligan fell to the floor clutching her eye.
Initially, the pair told hospital staff their flatmate Brent Watson was responsible for throwing the glass, because Ms Milligan said she did not think anyone would believe Bird was not involved.
But the judge said text messages sent by Bird made it clear he did not intend to let his friend be investigated, and a conviction of falsely accusing an innocent man was also overturned.
Bird sat silent and betrayed no emotion as the decision was handed down, but broke out into a broad smile as the judge left the bench.
Then he turned and reached for Ms Milligan and his friends and family.
"Both me and Katie are extremely relieved," he told media outside the court.
"This has been a very, very tough and arduous journey over the last 15 or so months, and it's a massive weight lifted off our shoulders."
Bird will appear in Sutherland Local Court on December 4 for the continuation of a trial in which he stands accused of assaulting another woman at a Cronulla nightclub.
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