A Lifford man has been found not guilty by the direction of the Judge of dangerous driving causing the death of a motorcyclist.
Hugh Shalvey, 34, was killed when his Honda motorbike collided with a jeep and trailer in Raphoe in October, 2014.
The man driving the jeep and trailer, David McCauley, 36, was charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Shalvey.
However, following various witnesses being heard over the past two days, Judge Terence O’Sullivan halted the trial at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
It follows a plea for direction by Mr McCauley’s barrister Jonathan Kilfeather not to find his client guilty.
After reviewing the evidence, Judge O’Sullivan agreed that the evidence had not reached a level to find Mr McCauley, of Drumleen, Lifford, guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Shalvey.
The court had heard that Mr Shalvey had been killed instantly when his Honda 900 motorbike collided with a trailer being driven by Mr McCauley.
The trailer was turning right into a farmyard outside Raphoe when the accident happened.
Gardai had claimed that the right indicator light on Mr McCauley’s trailer was not working.
However, the accused claimed that just weeks before the accident, he had had his trailer serviced and all lights checked.
Evidence in the case was given by Garda Forensic officers as well as other motorists who were in the vicinity of the crash when it happened just before 4pm on the afternoon of October 29th, 2014.
Judge O’Sullivan ordered the jury of nine men and three women to find the accused not guilty of dangerous driving causing death.
He said “There is no case to answer in the case of dangerous driving causing death in the evidence heard. We have a job to do that if a case doesn’t get over a certain level then we withdraw it. These are difficult cases and I would like to express my sympathies to family and friends of Mr Shalvey.