A driver has been acquitted of murdering a mother-of-one who died on a country lane after she was knocked off the back of an electric motorbike ridden by her boyfriend.
Keaton Muldoon, 23, was alleged to have murdered 25-year-old Alana Armstrong – who died at the scene in Batley Lane, Pleasley, Derbyshire – but was found not guilty by a jury at Derby Crown Court on Thursday, the court said.
He was also cleared of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Ms Armstrong’s boyfriend Jordan Newton-Kay, who had his right leg amputated 15cm above the knee after the crash.
Muldoon, of Tuckers Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving before his trial began in May.
His sentencing date has not been fixed by the court.
Muldoon, who the court heard was a drug dealer, told the jury of 11 women and one man on Tuesday that he “did not know” he had hit anyone while driving his Land Rover Discovery on the evening of November 26 last year, and thought he had overtaken Mr Newton-Kay’s bike at a passing point.
The prosecution alleged that Muldoon “pursued” the couple, and another electric bike ridden by a friend of Mr Newton-Kay, after they stopped near the defendant’s 4×4 at a lay-by.
The defendant told the court he feared he was going to be robbed but did not “chase” the Sur-Ron off-road bike for more than a mile from the lay-by in Sampsons Lane, Pleasley.
Muldoon, who was father to a newborn baby at the time of the collision, told the court he lied to police that his uncle had possession of the Land Rover at the time of the collision because he was “scared” about the murder investigation.
He told the jury earlier this week: “My head was all over, I didn’t know what to think.
“I knew I wasn’t going to see my children for a bit. I just had a newborn baby. I promised I would always be there.”
