A 21-YEAR-OLD man who claimed his friend was driving the car which hit a North-East pensioner as he waited at a bus stop was yesterday cleared of causing death by dangerous driving.

The son of 73-year-old victim James Mulligan said afterwards that he felt both men - who each insisted the other was behind the wheel - should have been in the dock.

Christopher Eade was found not guilty of causing Mr Mulligan's death, by a majority verdict at Leeds Crown Court.

The acquittal comes after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) originally decided it was unable to prosecute either Eade or Robert Webber, who the court heard was also in the car at the time.

Outside court, Mr Mulligan's son, Keith, said: "The CPS, who handled this case, has put the family through stress and strain over the last three years.

''It's just been devastating for all the family. I nearly lost my marriage three times.

"I always said from day one I would not let Jimmy Mulligan down. I've taken it as far as I could get it."

The 15-day trial heard Eade, who had taken heroin, Valium and cannabis, was travelling too fast and in a dangerous manner in a defective car bought for £50 only 24 hours earlier, but he insisted he was only a passenger.

The jury heard Mr Mulligan, of the Windy Nook area of Gateshead, was hit by the H-registered Ford Sierra car as he sat on a litter bin waiting for a bus in Albion Street, Gateshead in May 2002.

Mr Mulligan died as he arrived at hospital from heart failure caused by his injuries. A second pedestrian, Ivy Clark, 85, survived.

At the time of the decision not to prosecute Eade or Webber, a CPS spokeswoman said there was "insufficient evidence to proceed".

Mr Mulligan's family called for a change in the law and presented a petition to the Government backed by a string of North-East MPs.

At the inquest in November 2003, South Tyneside Coroner Terence Carney recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and hit out at the "wall of lies" from both Eade and Webber.

Expert legal opinion obtained by the Mulligan family, after they raised funds through the Justice For Jimmy campaign, led the case being referred to Ken Macdonald QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Following a review, Northumbria Police summoned Eade to answer the charges last November.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said after the case: "Northumbria Police carried out a full and thorough investigation into Mr Mulligan's death, and all of the available evidence has now been put before the coroner and a jury."

Later, solicitor Charles Weidner, representing Eade, said: "The past three years have been a very difficult time for Christopher Eade and his family," he said.

"However, this verdict clearly confirms and justifies the original decision of the Northumbria branch of the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute."

A CPS spokesman said the Director of Public Prosecutions had felt the weight of evidence merited his intervention, but the "bottom line" was that the jury felt the case was not proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Keith Mulligan said: "My dad's had his day in court. Unfortunately, the jury didn't go his way. But justice has been seen to be done. That's all the family can do."

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