An Uber driver who ran over and killed a customer after he had been sick in the back seat of his car has been acquitted of murder.
Hayadulla Turkmani, 53, was unanimously found not guilty by jurors of murder and manslaughter after two-and-a-half days of deliberations at Basildon Crown Court.
Turkmani had run over Michael Ashton, 28, after dropping him off outside his home in Basildon, Essex, just before midnight on September 26 last year.
Council worker Mr Ashton and his partner went into the home to get cleaning wipes, which they used to clean up the 'small amount' of vomit on the back seat.
Just moments later, there was a collision involving the Uber vehicle, which left Mr Ashton with a catastrophic brain injury. He died in hospital on October 4.
Turkmani, who the court heard fled Afghanistan in 1999 to escape Taliban persecution, denied charges of murder, manslaughter and causing death by dangerous driving.
The jury, made up of seven men and five women, found Turkmani guilty only of causing the death of Mr Ashton by dangerous driving.
Spectators burst into tears and shouted 'No! No!' as the verdicts were delivered today.
Michael Ashton (pictured), 28, was run over by Hayadulla Turkmani, 53, in Basildon, Essex
Judge Samantha Cohen admonished the public gallery twice for their emotional outbursts as the verdicts were delivered.
She said: 'Be quiet please everybody, otherwise you will have to leave.'
Telling jurors she would not sentence Turkmani immediately, she said: 'Thank you very much for your efforts. These sorts of cases are always difficult.
'It is an important public duty that each of you has undertaken.'
Prosecutors argued Turkmani, who was aided in the dock by an Afghan Dari interpreter, had run over Mr Ashton with his automatic Toyota Prius in anger.
But Turkmani told the jury he was 'panicked and frightened' and 'did not see' the six-foot man.
The court heard how Mr Ashton, a Barking and Dagenham council worker, had spent an evening with his partner before requesting an Uber to take them home.
Mr Ashton became nauseous and became ill – before a row broke out between Mr Ashton and Turkmani.
Basildon Crown Court heard Mr Ashton and his partner went inside and found cleaning wipes, which they then used to mop up the mess.
Turkmani told the court that Mr Ashton shouted at him and began running towards the car after a row over the passenger vomiting.
Basildon Crown Court heard Turkmani reversed away because he feared for his safety, but then felt a 'jerk' and believed he had struck an object.
Giving evidence, Turkmani said: 'I was reversing to get away, I was panicked and frightened as he was shouting and running towards me, I wanted to leave as soon as possible.'
Asked why he had sworn during the confrontation, he replied: 'Because he didn't clean the car, he swore at me and he slammed the door.'
While accepting he was 'annoyed', Turkmani rejected the prosecution's suggestion that he was angry enough to deliberately target Mr Ashton.
He said it was only after getting out of the vehicle that he realised someone was trapped underneath.
Turkmani told the court he retrieved a jack in an attempt to help.
The court also heard Turkmani, who belongs to Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic minority, fled the country in 1999 to escape Taliban persecution before becoming a British citizen in October 2011.
Explaining his reaction after the collision, he said: 'I was very affected in the war, there was a lot of fighting.
'When I saw there was somebody under the car I froze. I didn't know what to do.'
Prosecutor Andrew Jackson suggested the 'jerk' Turkmani described was the sensation of braking before deliberately driving into Mr Ashton, rather than an accidental collision while reversing.
Mr Jackson said: 'You are not seriously suggesting to this court you did not see, hear, or feel that you had hit a six-foot man?'
Turkmani replied: 'I didn't know that is what happened.'
Turkmani was found guilty of causing the death of Mr Ashton by dangerous driving and will be sentenced at a later date.