A grieving widow today claimed the criminal justice system had failed her family after the collapse of a Court case against the man charged with causing her husband's death by dangerous driving.

A judge threw out the charge against lorry driver David Ogden, 36, of Broughton Road, Skipton.

He had been charged following the smash last September in which Alan Waite, 55, a self-employed heating engineer, died. Mr Ogden's truck had been speeding, the court heard.

Today the dead man's wife Linda said: "I just feel the criminal justice system has let us down." The couple, of Lawn Avenue, Burley-in-Wharfedale, had been married 33 years and have two grown-up children.

Mr Waite was pronounced dead at the scene of the smash at Ilkley's notorious Manor Park Bends. His Ford Transit and a Leyland DAF wagon driven by Mr Ogden had collided head-on.

The Honorary Recorder of Bradford, Judge Steph-en Gullick, dismissed the charge against Mr Ogden after his barrister submitted there was insufficient evidence on which a jury could properly convict.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Mr Ogden's vehicle was allegedly travelling at 46mph when he went round a left-hand bend on a wet road. He should have been driving at no faster than 40mph because of the type of vehicle he was using.

When he came across an unexpected line of stationary traffic he had to brake. As his braking system locked, the wagon veered across the road and was in collision with Mr Waite's van.

The prosecution alleged that Mr Ogden's speed, the road conditions and the fact that he admitted knowing the road could amount to dangerous driving. But in giving his ruling, Judge Gullick stressed that for such a charge to be made out, the driving would have had to fall "far below" the standard of a competent and careful driver.

Mr Ogden's barrister And-rew Dallas pointed out there was no evidence to suggest there was any sustained bad driving involved or that his client had been involved in any dangerous manoeuvre such as overtaking on the bend. Mr Dallas argued the queue of traffic was a "totally unforeseen and exceptional hazard" which had clearly been the dominant cause of the accident.

Judge Gullick noted that a prosecution expert had concluded that even if Mr Ogden had taken the bend at 40mph, he would still have collided with someone, whether it was the car at the rear of the line of traffic or Mr Waite's van. "In my judgement, the evidence that the Crown can establish here is not sufficient for a jury properly to convict," he said.

After the case, Mrs Waite said she and her daughter Gail were desperately upset. "We have not had the opportunity to hear in full what happened that day because the inquest was quashed because there was going to be a trial," she said. "But we have not had a trial."