A DRIVER was dramatically cleared of being to blame for the death of a cyclist on a main road in Southampton.

Jurors at the city crown court took three hours and 20 minutes to find Julia Moore, 31, not guilty of both counts of causing the death of Greg Dear by dangerous driving or by careless driving.

Moore, who stood in the dock with her hands clasped together in front of her, showed no emotion as the foreman announced the verdicts.

She left the court without commenting to the Daily Echo.

Daily Echo: Click below to see a video of today's headlines in sixty seconds

Family and friends of Mr Dear left the court in tears.

Recruitment consultant Ms Moore had been accused of jumping the lights at the junction of Regents Park Road and Millbrook Road West as she drove to work in her Fiat Punto shortly after 7am on October 16, 2008.

Her car hit Mr Dear as he wheeled his bike across the road.

Ms Moore said there was nothing she could have done to avoid Mr Dear, 27, of Cliff Road, Freemantle, and maintained that she had not gone through a red light.

She told the court that as she approached the junction the lights were on green. She said: “I glanced across to the traffic lane next to me and made sure no one was indicating and coming in front of me from the middle lane.

“The next thing I looked back and the cyclist was in front of me in what appeared to be in the middle of my lane. I immediately put my foot on the brake but I knew I was going to hit him.”