Trucker cleared of causing death of pensioner

A SAINSBURY’S trucker from Bristol has been cleared of causing the death of a driver he hit while momentarily blinded by the rising sun.

Paul Hollier, 57, sobbed in the dock as the foreman of the jury at Exeter Crown Court delivered the verdict.

It took the jury just an hour to acquit him at the end of a three-day trial in which he was accused of causing the death of retired antiques dealer Ivor Greenslade.

Mr Hollier of Alexandra Gardens, Staple Hill, who had denied causing death by careless driving, shook hands with supporters in the public gallery as he left the court.

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He declined to comment after the case but a family member said: “He is very relieved. He has had this hanging over him for almost 18 months and has lost three stone.

“If he was found guilty and banned he would have lost the job which he has done all his life and at the age of 57 he would not have had much chance of finding anything else.

“This case has put an immense strain on him. Mr Greenslade’s family have shaken his hand and accepted it was all a tragic accident.”

The court heard that Mr Hollier is a trained first aider and had cradled the seriously injured pensioner in his arms until paramedics arrived.

Mr Greenslade was killed as he drove from his home in Cornwall to Penarth in Wales to scatter the ashes of his sister.

The 83-year-old had family in Wales and was on his way to meet them when he was killed in October 2010. His car had a puncture on the A30 near Whiddon Down and he had gone to the boot to fetch a spare tyre when he was hit by the Sainsbury’s delivery truck.

Mr Hollier was on his way back to his depot in Bristol when he came over the brow of a hill and was blinded by the sun.

He turned his head away for a second but when he regained his vision he was just feet from the broken down car in the nearside lane and had no chance of avoiding a collision.