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"Ecstatic... It's great to be free again," the 57-year-old said when asked how he felt.
His brother added: "I've had a dream for 27 years. I know it's a hell of a long time. But it's finally come true."
Wearing a dark suit and a colourful tie, Hodgson, who has longstanding mental and physical health problems, smiled and waved as he stood on the steps of the court in central London.
Hodgson was jailed for life for the murder in 1979 of Teresa De Simone, a gas board clerk and part-time barmaid who was strangled in Southampton on the southern English coast.
At the time of his conviction, DNA tests were not available.
"It is unsafe," said Igor Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales who headed the panel of three judges.
"The conviction will be quashed for the simple reason that advances in the science of DNA, long after the end of the trial, have proved a fact which, if it had been known at the time would ... have resulted in quite a different investigation and a completely different trial."
He said swabs taken from De Simone's body had been examined and there were sufficient remnants of sperm on them for proper DNA analysis, resulting in the conclusion that the sample on the swabs did not come from Hodgson.
"Whoever raped her -- on these findings, it can't be the appellant," Judge said.
The prosecution's case was that whoever raped De Simone also killed her, "so the new DNA evidence has demolished the case for the prosecution."
He said: "This decision leaves some important unanswered questions. Perhaps the most important is that we do not know who raped and killed the dead girl.
"We can but hope that, for the sake of the appellant and the family of the murdered girl, that her killer may yet be identified and brought to justice."
State prosecutors are not seeking a retrial.
De Simone's family said in a statement last week that they were "experiencing tremendously different emotions at this time and are struggling to come to terms with recent events".
Hodgson's lawyer Julian Young said his client was being helped by a miscarriage of justice team and would be visited by health professionals, and he would then "make his own decision on where he wants to live".
Hodgson was "looking forward one day to going to watch a football match", the lawyer added.
"He is very pleased that the nightmare is at long last over."
Hodgson originally confessed to the crime but pleaded not guilty at his trial. His defence team at the time argued he was a pathological liar.
In another tragic twist, Judge said that lawyers acting for Hodgson had questioned the forensic science service in 1998 to ask if there was any evidence left from the trial -- but was told none remained.
That was "plainly wrong", he said, adding there would be an investigation into the error which meant Hodgson stayed in jail for an extra ten years.
The court heard Tuesday that DNA evidence found at the murder scene did not match Hodgson's -- and there was no forensic link between him and the scene.
The police force which conducted the original investigation said it would reopen the probe to try to find the owner of the new DNA profile which saw Hodgson's conviction overturned.
"The original investigation and evidence is now being revisited with the benefit of the DNA evidence," said Detective Chief Inspector Philip McTavish of Hampshire Police.
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Image from Metro.co.uk
His brother added: "I've had a dream for 27 years. I know it's a hell of a long time. But it's finally come true."
Wearing a dark suit and a colourful tie, Hodgson, who has longstanding mental and physical health problems, smiled and waved as he stood on the steps of the court in central London.
Hodgson was jailed for life for the murder in 1979 of Teresa De Simone, a gas board clerk and part-time barmaid who was strangled in Southampton on the southern English coast.
At the time of his conviction, DNA tests were not available.
"It is unsafe," said Igor Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales who headed the panel of three judges.
"The conviction will be quashed for the simple reason that advances in the science of DNA, long after the end of the trial, have proved a fact which, if it had been known at the time would ... have resulted in quite a different investigation and a completely different trial."
He said swabs taken from De Simone's body had been examined and there were sufficient remnants of sperm on them for proper DNA analysis, resulting in the conclusion that the sample on the swabs did not come from Hodgson.
"Whoever raped her -- on these findings, it can't be the appellant," Judge said.
The prosecution's case was that whoever raped De Simone also killed her, "so the new DNA evidence has demolished the case for the prosecution."
He said: "This decision leaves some important unanswered questions. Perhaps the most important is that we do not know who raped and killed the dead girl.
"We can but hope that, for the sake of the appellant and the family of the murdered girl, that her killer may yet be identified and brought to justice."
State prosecutors are not seeking a retrial.
De Simone's family said in a statement last week that they were "experiencing tremendously different emotions at this time and are struggling to come to terms with recent events".
Hodgson's lawyer Julian Young said his client was being helped by a miscarriage of justice team and would be visited by health professionals, and he would then "make his own decision on where he wants to live".
Hodgson was "looking forward one day to going to watch a football match", the lawyer added.
"He is very pleased that the nightmare is at long last over."
Hodgson originally confessed to the crime but pleaded not guilty at his trial. His defence team at the time argued he was a pathological liar.
In another tragic twist, Judge said that lawyers acting for Hodgson had questioned the forensic science service in 1998 to ask if there was any evidence left from the trial -- but was told none remained.
That was "plainly wrong", he said, adding there would be an investigation into the error which meant Hodgson stayed in jail for an extra ten years.
The court heard Tuesday that DNA evidence found at the murder scene did not match Hodgson's -- and there was no forensic link between him and the scene.
The police force which conducted the original investigation said it would reopen the probe to try to find the owner of the new DNA profile which saw Hodgson's conviction overturned.
"The original investigation and evidence is now being revisited with the benefit of the DNA evidence," said Detective Chief Inspector Philip McTavish of Hampshire Police.
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Image from Metro.co.uk
