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Hug shove accused not guilty

A father-of-three who shoved a man who tried to hug him outside a Perth nightclub has been found not guilty of unlawful assault causing death.

Patrick Sunill Lilii pushed Zak Harvey, 32, outside Capitol nightclub in the early hours of the morning on April 20 last year.

Mr Harvey fell and hit his head on the footpath and later died from severe injuries.

A District Court jury today acquitted Mr Lilii of the charge after a three day trial and two hours hours of deliberations.

Outside court, Mr Lilii said he felt bad for Mr Harvey's family and was grateful the trial had come to an end.

"I just want to send my condolences to the family, this is from the bottom of my heart," he said.

"It's been a hard time, a hard journey for us this whole year.

"I just feel really bad. Hopefully we can put this past us."

Zak Harvey's brother Ben Harvey has urged people to be aware of how precious life is. Picture:Bill Hatto/The West Australian.

Mr Harvey's brother, Ben Harvey, said it was a tragic situation that had been hard on both families.

He urged members of the public to be more careful and to be aware of how precious life was.

"I believe the jury had all the evidence and the trial ran well and it's their job to make a decision and I stand by it," Mr Harvey said.

During the trial, the former security officer said he didn't know what Mr Harvey's intentions were when he jumped on him without warning.

Mr Lilii told the jury he only used enough force to push the stranger off him.

But prosecutor James Mactaggart said Mr Harvey did not jump on Mr Lilii, arguing the 135kg man used unnecessary force when he propelled the victim onto the pavement.

The incident was captured on CCTV cameras from two different angles.

The footage shows Mr Harvey hugging two people just before he approaches Mr Lilii on Murray Street some time after 5am.

Mr Harvey's life support was switched off after his internal head injuries were deemed non-surviveable.

Zak Harvey died from severe head injuries. Picture: Supplied

Major crime squad officers interviewed Mr Lilii, who left the scene before an ambulance arrived, on April 21.

He admitted pushing Mr Harvey and told officers he was sorry for what he had done.

Mr Harvey is from New Zealand but has lived in Australia for about five years.

After he was charged, the State Administrative Tribunal upheld a decision by WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan to suspend Mr Lilii's security agent's licence.