The BBC's Daniel Boettcher: "The jury could not reach a unanimous decision"

But Vincent Gallagher, 35, from Coventry, West Midlands, was convicted after a four-day trial at Warwick Crown Court on a lesser charge of careless driving.

Carl Giles, also from Coventry, drowned after the Maestro milk van in which he was a passenger became submerged when the River Leam broke its banks at Eathorpe, Warwickshire, on 10 April

The BBC's Colin Pemberton: "The Giles family were angry with the sentence"

In sentencing, Recorder John Saunders said he could not take into account the schoolboy's death because of the jury's majority decision not to convict Gallagher of the more serious offence.

He added that Carl "died as a consequence of your carelessness".

Carl Giles: A non-swimmer

He fined Gallagher £250 and imposed six points on his driving licence.

Carl's mother Carol was angry and tearful after the verdict.

"Justice has not been done. That man could go out next year do and exactly the same thing and get away with it. It is pathetic," she said.

Gallagher, a milkman for 19 years, wept as he recounted to the court how he had picked up Carl for their regular round along Fosse Way.

He had been aware of other abandoned vehicles on the flooded road, but pressed on regardless and quickly ran into difficulties.

"I tried to reverse, but I couldn't. I went forward again and put it in reverse again. That's when I realised I was in big trouble," he said.

'I panicked'

According to Gallagher, seconds later the milk van fell down the river bank and filled with water.

He was rescued by police after he escaped from the van, but Carl, a non-swimmer, was drowned. His body was discovered further downstream the following day.

"I called to Carl, but he didn't answer and I couldn't see anything except black and water," Gallagher said. "I panicked, I did not know what to do."

Gallagher's counsel, Roderick Henderson, said his client accepted full responsibility for the accident, but he only believed himself guilty of a lapse of judgement and not of causing death by dangerous driving.