A SALESMAN has been cleared of causing the death of an elderly Flintshire couple by careless driving.
Emlyn Coulson, 86, and his wife Dorothy, 83, of Lower Aston Hall Lane, Hawarden, died following a horror motorway crash.
Grandfather Martin Dyer, 53, broke down in tears after a jury of five men and seven women returned a not guilty verdict at Warrington Crown Court yesterday.
Dyer, of Stonehouse in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, had been charged with two counts of causing death by careless driving following the fatal collision on the M6 near Warrington at about 9pm on April 7, 2009.
Mr and Mrs Coulson were killed when a black BMW, driven by Dyer, ploughed into their Peugeot Partner.
Moments earlier the couple had been involved in a collision with a Mitsubishi leaving their vehicle stationary in lane four of the busy motorway.
Dyer, who had just pulled into lane four and was travelling between 70mph and 80mph, told the court he did not see the vehicle before it was too late.
A statement by Dyer, read out by Judge John Hale, said: “The first I remember was seeing a car in the outside lane and thinking I was going to die.
“I had no sense of how far away it was it just got very, very close to me.
“I could do nothing about it until it was too late, there were no hazard lights and no warning lights.”
The initial collision had taken place less than 30 seconds before.
David Potter, prosecuting, said other motorists in lanes two and three had been able to see the accident and stop in time.
He said: “Had he paid due care and attention he may have been able to steer his car in a way that would have avoided a collision altogether.”
But a statement from accident experts read out by Judge Hale said it would have been “difficult” to see the stationary car at night, which had no lights on.
The statement said: “This was a difficult obstruction to see. It would be harsh to expect an ordinary driver to see it.
“The nearer he got to it the easier it was to see. It was a grey car against a grey background.”
Oliver Jarvis, defending, said it was a tragic accident. He told the court: “The impact was unavoidable. The crash had already happened.
“Tragically two people have died, but Martin Dyer is not guilty of causing these people’s deaths. Sometimes accidents just happen.”
Mr and Mrs Coulson, who were soon to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Judge Hale described them as “loved and respected people” and urged the jurors to “put their emotion and sympathy to one side” when reaching a verdict.
The jury took less than two hours to reach a unanimous verdict.