by Keith Hunt

A taxi driver who claimed he was having a sneezing fit before he crashed into the back of a car, killing the driver, has walked free from court.

Phillip Parker wept as a jury acquitted him of causing death by careless driving.

The 38-year-old black cab driver, of Fir Tree Grove, Chatham, was driving home from working in London in the early hours of New Year's Day last year when he crashed into the back of Malkit Khatkar's Vauxhall Vectra.

Mr Khatkar, 70, sustained serious spinal injuries in the accident on the A2 at Wilmington and died two weeks later.

Mr Parker told how he had started sneezing repeatedly - seven or eight times in a row - and was suddenly aware of something in front of him.

Prosecutor Anthony Prosser told Maidstone Crown Court Mr Parker would have had at least 30 seconds of visibility of the car in front and plenty of time to brake.

There were no independent witnesses to the crash, which happened at about 5.20am on a long straight stretch of the coast-bound carriageway.

The Vectra was struck from the rear and spun around. The driver's seat was reclined and Mr Khatkar had to be cut out.

He was taken to Darent Valley Hospital and then transferred to Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where he died on January 16.

Mr Prosser said it was not possible to say how fast Mr Khatkar was travelling and his car could even have been stationary at the time of the collision.

Mr Parker, who suffered a broken collarbone, said his speed was about 50-60mph.

Mr Prosser said if sneezing did not explain the cause, it could have been lack of concentration or tiredness.

Mr Parker, who denied the charge, said in a police interview of his sneezing: "It didnt well up, it just - bang - happened."

He said in evidence: "It was just one after another."

Asked by Mr Prosser how he missed an object in the road directly ahead of him, he replied: "All I can tell you is I had a sneezing fit and the car was there. It looked like it was stationary and I went into the back of it. I did brake."

He denied being tired.