Driver who choked on sweet moments before fatal crash cleared of careless driving charge

David Cox, 49, had blacked out and had no "accurate recollection" of the events when his car was in collision with a motorcycle.

Kevin Byrne, 48, the rider of the Yamaha motorcycle, and his wife Carol, 49, who was the pillion passenger, were killed in the crash on the A458 Shrewsbury to Welshpool road in April 2013.

A jury at Shrewsbury Crown Court found Cox not guilty of two charges of causing death by careless driving following a four-day trial.

Cox, from Atherstone in Warwickshire, who had denied the allegations, broke down in tears as the jury returned its not guilty verdicts.

The court heard that Mr and Mrs Byrne, from Rhayader, Powys, died as they travelled towards Welshpool on their way home from a motorbike rally on April 21 last year.

The defendant's car had been travelling in the opposite direction when the collision occurred on a right hand bend at Rowton, near Halfway House.

Cox had told the jury he did not remember having corrected his Vauxhall Astra when witnesses saw it first cross onto the opposite carriageway.

Moments later the car had veered across to the right again and was in collision with the motorbike coming in the opposite direction.

The prosecution had suggested the coughing episode had started "quite some distance" from the scene of the crash, but Cox had chosen to try and keep steering the car, had lost control and had failed to slow down, pull over to the left, or stop.

After the accident Cox told police he had been coughing and choking for "about a minute" after being given a sweet by his mother. The next thing he could recall was being told to get out of his car.

During the trial Cox said he could not remember the accident and was sobbing in the witness box.

He said he was upset because of the loss of life and because he was unable to remember the detail of what had happened.