Zelma Thomas will never get her son back.

It's a thought that helps her rationalise this week's acquittal of the man charged with her son Larry's death last April.

Larry Thomas was killed in a traffic accident after his motorcycle collided with a van driving in the opposite direction.

The driver of the van, 26-year-old Roger Bowen, was cleared of causing death by driving with excess alcohol on Monday.

"It was a complete surprise to find out they dropped the charges," said Ms Thomas. "But even if they put someone in prison, my child is gone. There's nothing you can do about that."

She described her son as a good father to his two children, and a man with many friends. She said that her son had fallen into the career as a bartender because even though he earned his chef's certificate, he was allergic to shellfish.

"He would faint if he smelled it," she recalled. "He would pass out, so he couldn't work in a Bermuda restaurant."

She was asleep when the accident that took her son's life occurred. When she woke up, she discovered that her daughter-in-law had been trying to reach her.

"I knew it was serious. At that point, that's all I knew," she said. "When I got there, I saw his mother-in-law crying. Her eyes were red, red.

"They took me in to see the emergency doctor, and he said there was nothing they could have done."

She said the entire family was shaken by Mr. Thomas' death.

"(His wife Shirnall's daughter) Desiree was really shook up. When they brought the case up, she got upset all over again.

"(His son) Sianon was just turning four. When he was a baby, Larry would feed him at night. He would still come home and check in if Sianon was still awake."

While she said she was surprised and confused by the news that charges against Mr. Bowen were dropped, she said that she could not dwell on the issue.

"I've got other things to do," she said. "I've got a grandson starting school this year. I need to help get him ready."