A VAN driver has been cleared of causing the death of biker Zak Watson by careless driving.

Mr Watson, 31, from Crossgates, was killed when his motor cycle was in collision with John Campbell’s Ford Transit van on a summer evening in 2016.

The tragedy occurred just weeks after Mr Watson was married and there was a huge turn-out of bikers at his funeral in Dunfermline.

After a four-day trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Mr Campbell 35, of Lindsays Wynd, Oakley, was found not guilty of causing death by careless driving.

He faced a charge that on July 14, 2016, on the A907 at Bogside, he caused the death of Zak Watson by careless driving by overtaking when it was not safe to do so and causing a collision with Mr Watson’s bike when he was overtaking.

The accident occurred at around 7pm when Mr Campbell was driving his van to Alloa on a shopping trip accompanied by his wife and five children in the back.

He told the court that a Toyota in front had been driving slowly and braking randomly. The first chance he had to overtake was after a zig-zag bridge just before Bogside Farm.

“I saw the road was clear and took the opportunity. I checked my mirrors, the road was clear, I indicated and moved out,” he said.

The accused described hearing a “big bang” and then his wife screamed that it was a motor bike.

“It came from nowhere, honestly,” he went on. The driver then stopped his van and ran back to Mr Watson.

“I held his hand and apologised. I just said, ‘I’m sorry’. I felt bad about what had happened.”

Nurse Emma Cameron, 28, was driving the Toyota Aygo that the accused tried to overtake.

She told the court that she looked in her rear mirror and saw “a bike in the air”.

“I got of my car and ran straight down to where Zak was lying. He was lying in the middle of the road. He just looked lifeless,” she told the court.

Ms Cameron said Mr Watson was not breathing and there was no pulse.

She then spent 20 to 25 minutes attempting to resuscitate him using CPR but was unsuccessful in her efforts.

“There was no change in his condition during that time,” she said.

The accused was found guilty of driving without the proper licence as he had installed extra seating in the van. He was fined £400 and his licence was endorsed with four penalty points.

Mr Watson was president of the Blue Angels motor cycle club.