Ian McEwan cleared of causing lollipop lady's death
A lorry driver has been cleared of causing the death of a lollipop lady in Glasgow but convicted of careless driving.
Ian McEwan, 66, knocked down Catherine Gibson, 59, on a pedestrian crossing near Parkhead in January last year.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard he had only checked his driver-side mirror before pulling off from the crossing.
The HGV driver told the court he had been left "devastated" by Mrs Gibson's death. He will be sentenced next month.
The lorry driver, from Newmilns, Ayrshire, had been accused of causing death by careless driving on the pedestrian crossing at Fielden Street in the city's east end.
The jury returned a not proven verdict to the charge, but found him guilty by majority of a less serious charge of careless driving.
A witness described the incident as "horrific" and said the school children who saw the lollipop lady hit by the lorry would probably need counselling.
The court heard in a joint minute that McEwan was driving the HGV lorry which struck and ran over Mrs Gibson from Dennistoun.
Annette Shreenan, who was walking her two granddaughters to school that day, gave evidence at the trial.
The 50-year-old claimed she saw the lorry stopped at the pedestrian crossing when she arrived there, but that it started to move when Mrs Gibson stepped onto the road.
She said: "It just happened so fast and she was under the wheel."
In his evidence, McEwan said his lorry stopped on the pedestrian crossing before the incident and that he did not see Mrs Gibson before she was under his lorry.
He told the court he did not think it was possible for anybody to walk round the passenger side of the lorry.
He said: "I was so close to the kerb and pedestrian safety barrier I just thought it was unlikely, impossible for anything or person to come up my nearside because it was really so close."
McEwan told defence advocate Steven Love that was his explanation for not checking other mirrors before moving off.
Sheriff Sam Cathcart deferred sentencing until next month.