A man accused of killing his best friend’s girlfriend through dangerous driving had his name cleared by a jury yesterday. Donald Iain MacDonald was riding a motorcycle with Anett Farkas as his passenger when he came into collision with another bike.

Ms Farkas, 24, a popular Canadian bartender at the Robin Hood pub, died from head injuries sustained in the accident on North Street, Pembroke, around 9 p.m on September 5 2005. She had moved to the Island just two months before her death, and was described at a subsequent memorial service as a young woman with a “happy, friendly nature.”

Mr. MacDonald, a Scotsman who works at the Henry VIII restaurant, denied responsibility for the death of Ms Farkas, with whom he was heading for dinner at the nearby House of India when the accident occurred. Clearly emotional, he clasped his hands in a gesture of prayer and bowed to the jury as they found him not guilty yesterday afternoon.

Mr. MacDonald, 29, of Hilltop Drive, Southampton, had earlier told the trial he was “completely messed up” by what happened to Ms Farkas, who was dating a colleague of his named Remus from Henry VIII. He declined to comment as he left court at the conclusion of the case.

However, with the not guilty verdict coming more than 20 months after he was arrested, his lawyer, Richard Horseman said: “It’s been a stressful, long ordeal for him. I know he’s grateful to the jury for arriving at the verdict.”

The family of Ms Farkas did not attend the court case, but Mr. Horseman indicated that her mother in particular offered her support to Mr. MacDonald, who is known by his middle name, Iain.

“He’s been in monthly contact with the family. They call each other quite regularly - they know Iain was a good friend,” he said.

The prosecution had alleged that Mr. MacDonald, was at fault for the accident by turning across the path of the oncoming bike ridden by 16-year-old Vincent Hewey without having made proper observations that it was safe to manoeuvre.

While neither rider suffered serious injuries, Ms Farkas died of a brain haemorrhage the day after the crash.

Mr. MacDonald insisted in court that he was not to blame for the crash, which occurred as he attempted to turn into a parking space near the House of India.

Alleging that the only explanation was that Mr. Hewey was speeding, he told the jury on Monday: “He just came out of nowhere. One second he wasn’t there and the next minute he crashed into me.”

He told the panel yesterday that he had since replayed the accident “a million times in my head” and was sure he was not to blame.

Mr. Horseman alleged that the Police failed to present key pieces of evidence as they had no measurements from the scene, no pictures of the vehicles involved, and put an officer in charge who was not trained in road accident investigation.

The Police did not impound Mr. MacDonald’s vehicle, which ended up being stolen from North Street later that night, Mr. Horseman also pointed out.

The defendant had travelled back to the scene of the fatal crash yesterday morning with the jury members — who wished to see the area before their deliberations — and Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves, who presided over the case.

The ten-man, two-woman panel later took around one hour and fifteen minutes to find Mr. MacDonald not guilty by a unanimous verdict.