A man accused of seriously injuring his friend by crashing his bike drunk was cleared by a jury this afternoon.

Shawn Gibson told his four-day trial at Supreme Court that he'd loaned the bike to his friend Daniel Wilks, and Mr. Wilks was riding at the time of the crash that left them both badly hurt.

Mr. Wilks spent three weeks in a coma after the collision, which saw the bike go out of control and hit an oncoming car on South Shore Road late on April 13, 2008. He suffered fractures to his ribs, collar bone, spine and shin bone, shattered his thigh bone and suffered two punctured lungs.

Mr. Wilks insisted during evidence that Gibson, who he'd known for 15 years, was riding the bike at speeds of around 110 kph at the time.

Gibson, a former Marine and Ports worker from Southampton, sustained two hairline fractures to his right ankle, a broken nose and pelvis and chipped bones in his pelvis, plus an injured left knee and road rash.

He denied causing grievous bodily harm by driving impaired, driving under the influence and failing to comply with a demand for a breath test. He spent around two months in custody on remand over the case, but walked free after the not guilty verdict yesterday afternoon.

See tomorrow's edition of The Royal Gazette for the full story and reaction.