A cargo handler at Stansted Airport has been cleared of causing death by dangerous driving as he drove home after a 17-hour shift.

Nigel Wright was involved in an accident on the A120 at Stebbing last September in which motorist Anthony Morris was killed.

The prosecution at Chelmsford Crown Court had alleged Wright drove dangerously, but a jury found him not guilty on the charge following a trial.

Wright, 27, was convicted on a charge of careless driving and banned from driving for six months and fined £500.

"This was a tragedy not only for the family of the deceased but for you because you will have to live with it," Judge Michael Yelton told Wright.

Mr Morris, 46, of Stebbing Ford End, near Dunmow, died on September 13 last year following a collision with Wright's car on the A120 at Stane Street at Stebbing.

Robert Neill, prosecuting, told the jury the accident happened just before 7.30am as Wright was driving home towards Braintree.

Coming towards him was Mr Morris in his Ford Escort and there was a collision. Mr Morris was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Wright suffered a severe head injury, a broken rib and his right leg broken in three places. Both men had to be cut from their vehicles.

A police reconstruction found Wright's car crossed the road from his side to the wrong side and collided with Mr Morris for "no apparent reason".

Wright was interviewed by police later and he told them he only remembered leaving the airport car park and nothing else until he came round in hospital.

An expert on sleep-related accidents told the court the reason for the crash could have been caused by Wright allegedly falling asleep at the wheel and drifting across the road into the path of Mr Morris.

The jury heard Wright's job was physically demanding and he had only been doing it for some three weeks.

The shift before the accident was only his third time working nights. Work records showed he completed a double night shift of 17 hours before the accident and had worked a 12-hour shift before that.

Wright told the jury he had returned home the previous morning at 2.45am and had slept well for around nine hours. His double shift started at 2pm that afternoon.

Wright said he left work at 7am but remembered little after that.

"I remember getting in my car. That is the last recollection I have. I'd have been worn out ready to go home but I felt OK," he added.

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