Driver cleared of boat mast death

Sarah James received serious head injuries

A driver has been cleared of causing the death of a 19-year-old woman who was hit by the mast of his boat as he towed the vessel behind his car.

Sarah James, of Highley, Shropshire, was in another car when she was struck on the head by the mast in Dowles Road, Bewdley, Worcestershire, in June 2008.

Mark Tissiman, 48, denied the charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

However, the jury at Hereford Crown Court found him guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving.

Tissiman, of Kidderminster Road in Bewdley, was banned from driving for six months and fined £1,500.

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how Tissiman had been towing his dinghy from Chelmarsh Reservoir when the mast came undone and swung towards the car Miss James was travelling in.

She died from serious head injuries in Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital.