An Essex man accused of deliberately running over his estranged mother in his van, breaking her leg in five places, has been unanimously acquitted by a jury.
An Essex man accused of deliberately running over his estranged mother in his van, breaking her leg in five places, has been unanimously acquitted by a jury.
Mark Buckland, 22, of Layer Marney, who denied dangerous driving in Maldon Road, Tiptree, wounding his mother Martha Drain with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm and a less serious charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm sobbed as he was cleared of all three charges.
Giving evidence during his trial Buckland claimed his mother had squirted him in the face with the contents of a washing-up liquid bottle which caused his eyes to burn.
"I thought my face was going to be melted and that I was going to lose my eyesight. I was scared for my life and tried to get away," he said.
He said the substance smelled like ammonia and in addition to make his eyes burn it had burnt the inside of his nose.
He said that his eyes had been streaming and he couldn't see clearly and he had accidentally run his mother over as he tried to drive off in a state of panic.
He denied deliberately driving at his mother and said that immediately afterwards he had driven to his grandmother's house, which was nearby, and had washed his face with water.
The court has heard that Mrs Drain and her son had a "toxic" relationship and there had been a chance meeting between them as they were driving in opposite directions on January 20 last year in Tiptree.
Giving evidence, Buckland denied indicating his mother should turn round and follow him after their chance meeting and claimed she had taken it upon herself to follow him.
He claimed she had slammed on her brakes and stopped her vehicle in front of his van before approaching his driver's window holding something behind her back.
He claimed she had squirted the contents of a washing-up liquid at him and denied threatening her with a sword-like weapon.
Giving evidence, Mrs Drain claimed she had squirted washing-up liquid at her son after he produced a a weapon
She denied the washing-up bottle contained ammonia or some other noxious substance.
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