An Ontario Court judge has acquitted Jian Ghomeshi on four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking, saying the "deceptive and manipulative" evidence of complainants raised a reasonable doubt in the guilt of the former CBC Radio host.

Judge William Horkins said the evidence from all three complainants not only suffered from inconsistencies, but was "tainted by outright deception."

"The harsh reality is that once a witness has been shown to be deceptive and manipulative in giving their evidence, that witness can no longer expect the court to consider them to be a trusted source of the truth," Horkins said. 

"I am forced to conclude that it is impossible for the court to have sufficient faith in the reliability or sincerity of these complainants. Put simply, the volume of serious deficiencies in the evidence leaves the court with a reasonable doubt."

Ghomeshi Trial leaving court after acquittal March 24 2016

Jian Ghomeshi leaves court in Toronto on Thursday, March 24, 2016 with his lawyer Marie Henein.

After Horkins delivered his ruling, Ghomeshi, 48, hugged his mother,  sister and other supporters who sat behind him in the courtroom. He said nothing as he exited the courthouse, but his sister Jila made a statement.  

Jian Ghomeshi's sister reacts to not guilty verdict0:31

Outside the courthouse, as Crown attorney Michael Callaghan was set to respond to the ruling, a topless protestor rushed the podium. She was handcuffed and placed in police cruiser.

Protester crashes Crown's scrum at Ghomeshi trial0:40

Horkins added that while the evidence in the case raises a reasonable doubt, it "is not the same as deciding in any positive way that these events never happened."

The trial, which began in Toronto on Feb. 1, 2016, lasted eight days. Ghomeshi had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, all related to assaults alleged to have taken place from 2002 to 2003. 

The identities of two of the complainants in the case are protected under a publication ban, but actress Lucy DeCoutere, also an air force captain, went to court to lift the ban on her name.

The first woman to testify told court that Ghomeshi had pulled her hair and punched her in the head at his home after a dinner date. DeCoutere said the former Q host had choked and slapped her at his home. The third woman said Ghomeshi had squeezed her neck and covered her mouth while they were kissing on a park bench.

But it was later revealed in court that each woman had had contact with Ghomeshi following the alleged assaults and that details of this contact had not been provided to police or the Crown in their initial statements.

The first witness had told police and the court she had no subsequent contact with Ghomeshi after two alleged attacks but later acknowledged she sent him two emails and a picture of herself in a bikini more than a year later. The woman said she sent the emails to bait Ghomeshi into calling her to explain his actions.

DeCoutere had told the court that she had no romantic interest in Ghomeshi after her alleged assault and only saw him at industry functions. But it was later revealed in court that hours after the alleged sexual assault, she had sent him an email saying she wanted to have sex with him and sent him a handwritten letter days later saying she was sad they didn't spend the night together.

The third woman, who told police she would only feel safe being out with Ghomeshi in public after her alleged assault, failed to disclose that days later, she had a consensual sexual encounter with him.

In his final argument, Crown attorney Michael Callaghan argued that the witnesses had provided explanations for some of of the inconsistencies, delayed disclosures or omissions in their evidence. He stressed that not withstanding vigorous cross-examination, all three "were unshaken" in their allegations that they were sexually assaulted by  Ghomeshi.

But Ghomeshi's lawyer seized on those omissions, saying their testimony was "so riddled with inconsistencies and improbabilities and proven lies under oath that it cannot be said to prove anything."