Van driver cleared of killing pensioner

7:20am Tuesday 7th October 2008

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A VAN driver who knocked down a pensioner while he crossed the road with his dog was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving yesterday.

Father-of-six, Fitzgerald Case, was completing his bread delivery round at 6.30am on March 6 last year when he hit John Morris Allardyce as he crossed at lights on the junction with The Vale and Lardon Road in Acton.

Mr Morris, described in court as “fit and agile”, was rushed to hospital where he had an operation to release pressure on his brain, but died in a hospice six months later of broncho-pneumonia, associated with the injury.

Isleworth Crown Court heard how Mr Case, 36, of South Tottenham, had to contend with several obstacles while approching the crossing, including two 18-metre long bendy busses on either side side of the road obstructing his view.

CCTV in both buses caught the full drama of the incident, including a blue Mondeo travelling in the opposite direction from Case’s white Transit van, which crossed the lights when they were red, forcing him to swerve before he hit the pensioner.

The driver of the Mondeo has never been traced.

Case told the court he believed the lights were green in his favour, but prosecutor Jonathan Wright told the court police had evidence from the buses’ CCTV which proved otherwise.

He said: “The lights for traffic were red for eight seconds before the impact. At the point when the lights changed from green to amber, they would have been visible to the defendant as he drove westbound.

“Thereafter, both buses effectively obscured his view of the lights. But there came a time when he could again see the red lights".

Case was cleared by the jury of causing death by dangerous driving but convicted of careless driving and fined £400.