OAP guilty of causing Shropshire motorcyclist's death on A49

Patrick O'Hare made a right turn in front of a motorbike being ridden by Merrick Burns at the junction with a country lane leading to Grinshill known as High Street on June 8 last year.

The 27-year-old rider, known as Mez, suffered serious head injuries and died hours after the crash.

O'Hare, of Beauparc, Grinshill, had denied a charge of causing death by careless driving. But he was yesterday found guilty after a three-day trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

O'Hare's green Toyota and another car were travelling south towards Shrewsbury at the time of the collision at 5.45pm, the court heard.

O'Hare pulled out in front of Mr Burns, whose bike glanced the Toyota.

Mr Burns had been heading to his new business venture Junction 49 at the time of the crash.

Following the verdict, Mr Burns's father Garry said: "Myself, his brothers Callum, 25, and Frazer, 16, and his sister Gabriella, 16, just want to get on with our lives now and remember Merrick in the right way. We have some closure now."

Mr Burns said he was also satisfied that the trial had confirmed his son was not responsible for the accident which claimed his life.

He said: "It proves now that Merrick was not speeding and he did have his light on because the crash investigation from both sides said that was the case.

"We also want to thank the police and the Crown Prosecution Service for their investigation into the accident and how thorough they were."

He added: "There is no malice towards Mr O'Hare from the Burns family but there is closure on this for us."

Motorists and a nurse who lived near the scene attempted to resuscitate Mr Burns after he was thrown from his bike, but despite being taken by air ambulance to North Staffordshire Hospital, he died later the same evening.

Mr Philip Beardwell, prosecuting, had told the court: "Mr Burns would have been unconscious immediately and any suffering he experienced would have been short lived, if at all."

Mr Beardwell said that police investigations at the scene showed Mr Burns' motorcycle had been travelling at about 44mph.

Mr Burns had been driving north from his home in Hadnall on his motorbike when, just a couple of miles from the start of his journey, O'Hare turned right in front of him into the lane.

O'Hare was given an interim driving ban and was granted unconditional bail.

The case was adjourned for reports and he will be sentenced next month.

Mr Beardwell had told the court that before the collision the pensioner had an unblemished driving record.