Paul Kent has a loss in court after being found not guilty of choking his ex-girlfriend

EXCLUSIVE 

Paul Kent has had his cost application thrown out by a magistrate in the wake of his not guilty verdict.

The footy pundit was acquitted of the charge of intentionally choking a person without consent, among other charges he was also acquitted of, at the Downing Centre Local Court late last year.

Kent, 54, was cleared of choking his ex-girlfriend during an altercation at a home in Sydney's inner west last May, and was suspended from his punditry gig on Fox League during the court ordeal. 

A two-day hearing resulted in Magistrate Daniel Reiss telling the court he could not find the charges proven beyond reasonable doubt. 

Reiss said Kent had acted in defence of his own property after his former partner Lucy Kennedy took his phone following an argument.  

But on Wednesday, the same Magistrate denied Kent's request for the police to pay his legal costs for the alleged choking charge.

Solicitor George Elias made submissions on Kent's behalf but Reiss refused his application for costs. 

Kent has since returned to television screens, taking up his regular slot on NRL360 on Fox Sports.

 Immediately after he was cleared of all charges, Kent said the result was 'vindication' and that the allegations had been a 'setback'.

'The judge accepted what happened to the point that my barrister was not even required to make a final summation,' he said. 

'It's been seven months I've had to sit there and feel like I've been unfairly arrested [and] unfairly charged, and I've had to sit there and have our public reputation lacerated by people who have used it as an opportunity.

'The truth is out there, finally. It's been a big cost to me, it's been a big set back in my life. But, we've all got our struggles in life.

'This is my one currently, so it's up to me now to regroup and get back to my normal life. I can finally leave this all behind.'