Published Thursday, 20 September 2012
Mr Lillis was acquitted of the attack charge. (© UTV)
Roy Lillis, who is 25 and from the Cromwell Road in Belfast, was cleared following the day-long hearing at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday.
The jury of six men and six women heard that although police had put in place a massive evidence gathering operation, none of the footage had captured Lillis doing anything wrong other than being present at the scene.
Giving evidence to the court, District Commander for the area Chief Superintendant Mark Hamilton said he was "confident" his officers had recorded all those who had attacked police but had only captured the accused's presence, nothing else relating to him.
The jury also heard that Lillis has already admitted to a charge of rioting 24 hours earlier on 11 July, when a mob attacked police at the Oldpark Road.
Although he initially admitted to doing "the same thing" at Ardoyne, he later retracted that alleged confession during interview.
Before the trial began, four other men all pleaded guilty to a charge of riot and a fifth man to a charge of encouraging a riot, all on the Twelfth, and all five were released on bail pending the completion of pre-sentence probation reports before sentence.