US officer cleared over Harrogate crash that injured teens

Benjamin Oakes was cleared of two counts of causing injury by careless driving

An American military officer has been cleared of causing a crash that left two teenage boys seriously injured.

Col Benjamin Oakes, 46, collided with a pick-up truck in February after edging out of a "blind junction" in Harrogate which then hit the two teenagers.

He was earlier cleared of two counts of causing serious injury by careless driving in a hearing at York Magistrates' Court.

The judge said he "cannot be satisfied" Mr Oakes' driving was to blame.

Mr Oakes told the court his Astra was attempting to turn right out of Ashville College independent school on to Yew Tree Lane but there is "zero visibility" to the right, due to a building.

District Judge Adrian Lower also heard that after colliding with the Ford pick-up truck Mr Oakes initially thought it was a "fender bender" until he saw the back of the truck sticking out from the college wall and heard children screaming that "someone had been hit".

The court heard how one of the boys who was injured suffered various fractures to his leg, foot and arm.

The teenager was in hospital for 18 days, where he had several operations including having metal supports inserted around his leg.

His friend was in hospital for 22 days after also suffering severe fractures and the separation of the skin on one of his lower legs, referred to as being "de-gloved".

The collision took place in Harrogate on 2 February

Judge Lower said he had not heard any evidence that helped him decide how fast the Ford pick-up was travelling and "this was crux of the issue".

He added: "I can't exclude the possibility that truck was not there to be seen when Mr Oakes emerged from the junction."

It was suggested in court that Mr Oakes caused the crash because he was used to driving on the other side of the road in America but there was no evidence to support this.

He had been driving in the UK for a number of years, it was said.

The Guardian has reported that Mr Oakes had worked in a range of high-level roles for the Pentagon and, according to his LinkedIn profile which was taken down shortly after he first appeared in court, he had been serving as the chief of space policy for the joint chiefs of staff.