A Birmingham bus driver has been cleared of causing death by careless driving over an accident involving a passenger.
Zahoor Khan was charged after an incident in the city in January last year in which local man Gary Brien died shortly after getting off the bus.
The defence argued that Mr Brien had fallen before he was hit by the bus and so was out of sight when the driver was making his routine mirror checks before moving off.
Judge Trevor Faber, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court, ordered that a not-guilty verdict be entered.
Louis Carter, of DBS Law, who represented Mr Khan, said: “This was the only verdict possible in a case where no substantive evidence was offered by the prosecution to suggest our client was at fault.
“The evidence that suggested our client’s innocence was available from immediately after the accident. There are serious questions to be asked as to how this prosecution was in the public interest.
“Mr Khan has asked me to express his sympathy for Mr Brien’s family for their loss. This was a tragic accident that has affected Mr Khan deeply and this case, which has dragged on for over a year, has unnecessarily added to his ordeal and to the suffering of Mr Brien’s family.”
