A motorist involved in a horrific late-night crash has been found not guilty of causing the death of a 26-year-old passenger by dangerous driving.

Customer service clerk Elena Claughton, 28, was alleged to have been speeding along Bradford Road, Frizinghall, in August 2006 when the Audi S3 she was driving smashed into a Subaru Impreza, ripping it in two.

Khalid Zaheer, from Walsall, who had been a rear seat passenger in the Subaru, suffered fatal injuries in the collision and three other occupants of the car were also hurt.

Pedestrians Ali Hussain and his father Abid were also caught up in the terrifying collision, and a jury heard earlier this week that Mr Hussain senior had been badly injured.

Claughton, of Green Lane, Thornton, Bradford, had been out for a meal with her father and brother in Ilkley and was going to pick up her boyfriend when she was involved in the collision at about 11.20pm.

During a four-day trial she described how she had seen the Subaru apparently waiting to turn right into Beamsley Road and when it didn't do so she presumed they were waiting for her to go past.

She told the jury the Subaru pulled across in front of her and she had no chance to brake before hitting it.

A police accident investigator estimated that Claughton's vehicle was still travelling at 40mph after it had struck the Subaru and the prosecution alleged that she had been doing more than 50mph on the 30mph road prior to the impact.

After just over two hours of deliberation today the jury at Bradford Crown Court cleared Claughton on the charge of causing Mr Zaheer's death, but she was found guilty of the lesser offence of careless driving.

She had also faced a separate allegation of dangerous driving relating to a 13-minute phone call she made on her mobile phone while travelling back from Ilkley that night.

Again the jury cleared her of the charge but convicted her of careless driving.

Judge Roger Scott fined Claughton £1,000 in respect of the accident offence and a further £250 for using her mobile phone.

'Miss Claughton, that is the end of the matter,'' Judge Scott told her.

'It's been going on now for a year and a third. It must on any conceivable view have had an effect upon you, and I take that into account as much as I can.

'There was a death in this case and that will live with you for a very long time, if not for the rest of your life.''