Criticism of the judge seems to be very much a case of 'shooting the messenger'

It was the police and prosecution who built and presented a very poor case against OP who should, (if anyone should), be criticised.

The crime scene was contaminated, witness discrepancies, head of the police investigation himself charged with murder, one witness shown to have lied and so on.  What actually happened in that room on that night is just pure speculation and nothing could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt - that's not the judges fault!

If the person who had died in that toilet had been an intruder how likely would it have been that a trial for murder would have ever taken place?