A chef has been cleared of injuring a man after driving the wrong way on a one-way road.

Christopher Pack died four weeks after the crash in Maidstone after catching Covid in hospital.

The 69-year-old had noticed an elderly friend's bin needed taking out for collection and left his home in Milton Street to do his good deed.

It was then he noticed a motorist driving the wrong way up a street.

The former university lecturer was struck and left injured on the floor before being taken to hospital – as the car continued on its way.

Smail Afafsa, of Bazalgette Rise, which is off Milton Street, was initially accused of causing the pensioner's death by driving dangerously.

Last November this was dropped to the lesser charge of causing injury by driving dangerously.

Now, a jury at Maidstone Crown Court has cleared him of the charge.

Instead, the eight women and four men on the jury found the 55-year-old father-of-two guilty of careless driving.

Mr Pack's family wept as the verdicts were delivered and were later led away by witness support staff.

The court heard how Mr Pack suffered a fractured thigh bone in the incident and was taken to hospital.

He was there for three weeks before contracting coronavirus and died a week later.

Afafsa didn't give evidence at the trial but had denied the offence.

The court heard how at about 1.15pm on December 29, 2020, Afafsa drove his Ford Focus the wrong way along Milton Street, a one-way road.

Prosecutor Francesca Levett played footage of the aftermath in which Mr Pack alleged that he was driven at deliberately.

But the jury found Afafsa not guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and returned a verdict of guilty to careless driving.

The pub chef was banned from driving for six months and fined £450 – together with another £100 in costs. He was told he has three months to pay or risk going to prison for two weeks.

Judge Philip St John Stevens told him: "You made a decision, whether borne from frustration or another reason to drive the wrong way up a one-way street.

"You couldn't wait for a van to move and that was a deliberate and considered decision on your part."

He added that led to a "tragic chain of events" and Mr Pack "lost his life to Covid."

The judge later praised Mr Pack's family for the dignity and respect they had shown during the trial.

He added: "This must have been extraordinarily upsetting."