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| Minibus driver guilty of cyclist's death | Minibus driver guilty of cyclist's death |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A minibus driver has been found guilty of killing a cyclist as he looked at mobile phone pictures while driving. | A minibus driver has been found guilty of killing a cyclist as he looked at mobile phone pictures while driving. |
| Cyclist Owain Richard James, 30, was killed after being hit by Andrzej Wojcicki, 45, who had been viewing photographs of vintage sports cars. | |
| Cardiff Crown Court heard Wojcicki was "distracted" by the images as he drove at 50mph along the busy A472 near Newbridge, south Wales. | Cardiff Crown Court heard Wojcicki was "distracted" by the images as he drove at 50mph along the busy A472 near Newbridge, south Wales. |
| He is due to be sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving later. | He is due to be sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving later. |
| During the trial, the jury heard how Wojcicki been driving back from a Jehovah's Witness conference in a large minibus with his wife and children. | |
| The court was told he had been taking and viewing pictures on his mobile phone as he drove the two and a half tonne bus at 50mph along the road. | |
| He hit Mr James, who was thrown into the air by the impact, and hit the bonnet and windscreen before falling into the road. | |
| 'Driver distracted' | |
| During the trial, Wojcicki denied using his mobile phone while driving and his defence counsel told the court there was no evidence he had been using his phone at the time of the collision or beforehand. | |
| Lord Harley, representing Mr Wojcicki, told the court he was a "diligent driver" and said Mr James had swerved in front of the minibus and did not give the defendant the chance to brake. | |
| "For him to come into the path of my client took less than a second. It was all over in a second," he added. | |
| But prosecutor Nicholas Jones said: "The driver never saw the cyclist because he was distracted until after he collided with him. | |
| "Because Wojcicki was driving dangerously, he caused the death of Mr James. It is as simple as that. | |
| "You do not take pictures while you are driving along and then look at them." | |
| The jury took seven hours to find him guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. | |
| He will be sentenced on Thursday afternoon. |