“This was but a simple road traffic accident with tragic consequences” is how Magistrate Edward King summed up his acquittal of British hairdresser Melanie Jane Wedgwood on charges of driving without due care and attention.

Wedgwood was driving a motor car on the morning of August 7, 2003 when she overtook a bus that had halted at a combined bus stop and crosswalk outside Purvis Primary School on St. Mary's Road, Warwick.

She struck six-year-old Tyaisha Cox - who had just alighted from the bus - as she walked ahead of her brother on the crosswalk on their way to summer school. Tyaisha died the following morning in hospital.

Mother Margaret Moore sobbed as Mr. King read the judgment to a packed courtroom. Wedgwood also cried, as she had throughout the morning.

“As we shall see, based on the evidence presented in the Magistrates' Court, this was but a simple road traffic accident with tragic consequences,” Mr. King told the court. “Unfortunately, rumour mongering has distorted this matter to such an extent that the fangs of the ugly serpent of racial undertones have fired the emotions of some members of this community.”

Sgt. Philip Lewis - an experienced road traffic accident expert with extensive experience for more than 20 years - had testified that the major factor in the collision was the road and its layout. Mr. King referred to this testimony that the placement of the pedestrian crossing - that potentially allows or permits pedestrians to walk in front of, or behind a large bus - was a hazard to all road users.

“Lewis testified that he had found no evidence of dangerous driving or recklessness on the part of the driver, Wedgwood, having regard to all the circumstances of the case,” Mr. King said.

“Lewis said that she (Wedgwood) overtook a stopped vehicle and, as such, did what the average driver would have done under similar circumstances.”

It took Mr. King almost an hour and a half to read the 21 pages and included detailed testimony by all the witnesses in the case.

He said it was probably the first case in Bermuda where a charge of driving without due care and attention has been laid against a motorist, following a road traffic accident resulting in the death of a person traversing a pedestrian crossing.

Mr. King referred in detail to evidence provided during the trial by various witnesses, Mr. King said that except for Sgt. Lewis, he found the testimony of each of the others to be either “riddled with inconsistencies, factual impossibility, embellished or down-right concocted”.

Mr. King went on to say that Police officers, garnishing statements from prospective witnesses, should refrain from putting to other potential witnesses being interviewed matters or issues which they have gleaned previously from other witnesses.

“Witness A should not be fed or influenced by information given earlier by Witness B. That that was done in this case, particularly by Police Constable Victor Fishenden, was quite obvious to me,” he said.

Following the judgement Wedgwood and her lawyer, Saul Froomkin QC left the Magistrates' Court and quickly walked towards Church Street and out of sight. Neither commented.

They were followed a short while later by Tyaisha Cox's family who gathered outside to comfort each other as best they could. They wanted to voice their anger, but also their pain. Tyaisha's maternal grandfather, Michael Cox, was inconsolable.

As his daughter, Tyaisha's mother and husband, O'Niel Moore, hugged and cried, their great aunt Michelle Trott stood to one side trying not to show her emotions. “I'm angry and I don't want to talk to anyone until I calm down,” she insisted.

Mrs. Moore's cousin, Wycliffe Williams spoke on behalf of the family. “She (Wedgwood) got away with murder!” he said.

He said the family felt that Wedgwood should have gone to Supreme Court where a jury would have decided her fate.

He said the family was “devastated and still in shock” but would visit Tyaisha's gravesite and reflect on her life before going home.

“We just have to try and absorb the double tragedy that's befallen this family,” he said.

Mrs. Moore and her husband were unable to speak and embraced by Bishop Goodwin Smith, said a prayer outside the Magistrates' Court before slowly walking away.