Paratrooper Lee Clegg was cleared yesterday of any criminal act arising out of the killing of two teenage "joy-riders" in Belfast nearly 10 years ago.
Mr Clegg (31), who has been promoted corporal in the Parachute Regiment, said he was overwhelmed that the long battle to clear his name had ended positively.
He was not in the Court of Appeal in Belfast to hear the news but said in a statement through his solicitors: "My family and I do not intend to be victorious about the successful outcome.
"The shooting was a tragedy that could have been avoided. Two young people lost their lives needlessly, and this fact will remain with me long after the case has been forgotten about.
"I want to now try and rebuild my life and draw a line under the whole case."
His mother, Mrs Wynne Johnson, who has remarried, was in court and said afterwards: "It has been a long hard struggle and it has taken a lot out of the family.
"Obviously we have every sympathy with those who died and we just hope it's now all over."
Mr Simon McKay, Cpl Clegg's lawyer, said: "The crucial issue was not that Cpl Clegg opened fire at the stolen car but whether he shot at the back of it after it had passed his location. Today's judgment has finally determined this issue in his favour."
The Clegg saga began on the night of September 30th, 1990, when the teenagers in a stolen car in west Belfast were fired on by soldiers from the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment.
The driver, Martin Peake, and a back-seat passenger, Karen Reilly, were killed, and Markiewicz Gorman was injured.
Cpl Clegg was found guilty of murdering Ms Reilly and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also convicted of attempting to wound Mr Peake and given four years.
He lost appeals in Belfast and the House of Lords, but his case was referred back to the court because of new ballistics evidence. A retrial was ordered, and Cpl Clegg was cleared last March of murdering Ms Reilly but convicted of shooting at Mr Peake and again sentenced to four years.
He appealed last November before the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Carswell, Lord Justice Nicholson and Mr Justice Gillen.
In a reserved judgment yesterday, the three judges unanimously held that the evidence against Cpl Clegg was not strong enough to sustain a conviction.
The judges said they were unable to regard the conviction as safe and accordingly had to allow the appeal.
The 35-page judgment was read out by Sir Robert, who went on take the unusual step of explaining the reasons for their decision.
He said: "We think it appropriate to conclude this judgment by issuing a reminder that the function of trial judges and appellate courts is to apply the rigorous and demanding standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt in determining the criminal responsibility of a defendant.
"That standard must remain immutable in respect of every defendant in every walk of life and every situation.
"Suspicions, however strong, cannot be accepted as proof," he said.
"Sympathy for the families of Karen Reilly and Martin Peake in their tragic loss cannot be allowed to deflect a court from reaching a decision based on the law and the facts proved in evidence.
"It has been our task to apply the standards of the criminal law to the case before us, an anxious and demanding task in all the circumstances, and our decision is based on that alone," he said.