A lorry driver has been acquitted of failing to stop and provide the police with his details, following an accident on a north-east road which left a young man dead.
Oskars Zenka died after being struck by a white articulated truck on the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness road, near Kintore.
Emergency services arrived shortly after the incident, which happened around 2.20am on January 23 last year.
But, despite the efforts of paramedics, Mr Zenka, from Inverurie, died at the scene.
Lorry driver, Gary Wilson, had been on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in connection with the incident after prosecutors alleged his vehicle struck Mr Zenka near the B987 Tavelty junction, leaving the 27-year-old with fatal injuries.
They claimed he “failed to stop and give his name and address” and “the name of the owner and the identification marks of the vehicle” to the police.
But Sheriff David Hall said he had no doubt “whatsoever” that Mr Wilson, of 5 Wemyss Street, Rosyth in Fife, had not realised he had struck Mr Zenka and found him not guilty of the charge.
He had not been charged with leaving the scene of a crash or causing Mr Zenka’s death.
The court previously heard from two police officers who were involved in carrying out the investigation following the crash.
They said markings and traces of Mr Zenka’s DNA were found on the front of the cab of Mr Wilson’s lorry.
The court heard these markings, along with the position in the road Mr Zenka was later found, suggested that Mr Wilson had swerved at the point of impact.
Fiscal depute Colin Neilson asked collision scene examiner Constable James Duncan if Mr Wilson would have been aware if he had hit a pedestrian.
He replied: “He is bound to have felt the lorry vibrate. He should have heard something, but he most definitely would have felt the vibrations going through the cab. It’s almost impossible not to.”
However, Sheriff Hall said he preferred Mr Wilson’s evidence during the trial to that of the police officers and accepted his position that he simply did not notice that he had hit Mr Zenka.
Mr Wilson wept as he left court yesterday.