A BRIEF TIMELINE OF THE MICHAEL CRANSTON COURT CASE:
May 2017 - Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner Michael Bede Cranston is issued with a court attendance notice for allegedly abusing his position as a public official. He is suspended without pay.
June 2017 - Mr Cranston faces court for the first time and resigns from his job hours later.
January 2019 - The trial of Mr Cranston, now 59, begins in the NSW District Court. He pleads not guilty to using information obtained as a deputy commissioner and exercising influence in the capacity of his role, with the intention of dishonestly obtaining a benefit for his son, Adam.
February 2019 - A jury clears Mr Cranston of both his charges after a three-week trial and less than two days of deliberations. He tells reporters after the not guilty verdict that it was a shock "to actually be charged on something like this" and "probably one of the worst things that has happened in my life".
"Now it's a new start, all this is now behind me and so I can just go forward," he said.
Australian Associated Press
