A BUILDER has been found not guilty of causing the death of a 15-year-old girl by dangerous driving.

Daniel Jeminson, 20, stood trial accused of being partly responsible for the crash that killed Natalia Wiley on January 8 because he was “racing” her boyfriend along the A170 between Pickering and Scarborough, in North Yorkshire.

Natalia, a schoolgirl from Pickering, was a passenger in a Vauxhall Corsa driven by her boyfriend Robert Turnbull when it crashed at between 70mph and 80mph, killing her instantly.

During the trial a witness described seeing one car go past at high speed, followed by a second car going past him “like a bat out of hell” shortly before the crash.

Mr Jeminson, of Kirkbymoorside, told jurors he had been driving at or under the speed limit.

Turnbull, 18, of Wrelton, near Pickering, admitted causing her death by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing and will be sentenced at a later date.

Giving evidence, Mr Jeminson said that although he was driving a high-performance Ford Fiesta, he was driving it legally and within the speed limit on the day of the crash.

He told jurors that a Corsa tried to overtake him near Ebberston as a car was coming in the opposite direction, then pulled back behind him. He carried on driving but later realised something might be wrong and returned to find the Corsa on its roof.

Natalia’s family attended court but declined to comment on the verdict.