- Peter Clout (right, at front) leaves court with his legal representatives and supporters after his acquittal
COOLAC farmer Peter Clout has been cleared of dangerous driving occasioning the deaths of Cootamundra couple Peter and Sandra Black, but he will return to court on Friday to enter pleas to two back-up charges.
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At the end of a five-day trial, a Wagga District Court jury on Monday took about an hour to acquit 61-year-old Clout.
Clout wiped away tears with a tissue as the verdicts sunk in.
Some members of Mrs and Mrs Black’s families were visibly upset by the outcome.
A number shook their heads as the verdicts were handed down.
“We are stunned,” Mrs Black’s stepfather, Colin Wood, told media outside the courthouse.
“I got up and my head was spinning.”
“I felt very sorry for Peter at the beginning (of the tragedy), but I feel pleading not guilty was not the way to go.”
Mr Black was riding a Suzuki Boulevard along Muttama Road, near Coolac, with Mrs Black as his pillion passenger on January 25, 2015, when a utility driven by Clout turned right and into their path.
The motorcycle hit the side of the ute.
Mr Black, 52, and Mrs Black, 47, died at the scene.
The Crown alleged at Clout’s trial he was driving dangerously because when he made the turn he failed to keep a proper lookout for oncoming traffic.
Clout, who gave evidence at his trial, said he did look ahead before turning and only saw the motorbike when he was into the turn and the bike was just 15 to 20 metres from impact.
In thanking the jury for its service, Judge Stephen Norrish said the case had been “a tragic, sad case in a range of ways, and that is acknowledged”.
After the verdict was delivered and the jury dismissed, Crown Prosecutor, Michael McColm, mentioned in court that Clout still faced two counts of negligent driving occasioning death as back-up charges.
The charges have been stood over to Friday for plea or further mention.
Mr and Mrs Black celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary just nine days before the tragic crash.
Mr Black drove a bulldozer for the Soil Conservation Service on weekdays and drove a truck on weekends, while Mrs Black worked for Cootamundra Oilseeds.
They shared a passion for motorcycles and loved going on Sunday rides.
The couple were well known in the Cootamundra district and were involved in junior soccer and swimming as their three children – Joshua, Jaykeb and Mihkyla – were growing up.
