Driver Slawomir Kotlowski found not guilty of causing serious injury by careless driving over lorry crush incident on Lyndhurst High Street

A woman who was seriously injured when blocks toppled on her from a lorry wept in court as the driver was found not guilty of causing the incident.

Chloe Evans (23) from Totton, who was sitting in the public gallery, broke down as Slawomir Kotlowski was cleared two years to the day after she was left with “life changing injuries”.

She sobbed as his defence barrister Ian Bridge said the defendant had been “left absolutely heartbroken by what has happened to her”.

It was the first time Chloe, who has been left scarred and with a leg in a brace, attended the trial at Southampton Crown Court.

The jury had been out for less than 30 minutes before delivering their not-guilty verdict.

A distraught Chloe was comforted by other family members who were also in tears.

She was walking past the former Lyndhurst Park Hotel on 31st October 2022 when the pallet of blocks fell on her.

Kotlowski’s cargo had been incorrectly loaded in the Netherlands and became unstable as he drove along the A35 from Ashurst to Lyndhurst.

The court had heard how van driver Robert Dilworth, who was travelling behind him, “frantically” tried to warn him by flashing his headlights and sounding his horn.

Kotlowski had been on a hands-free mobile phone call which lasted nearly 34 minutes but said he had remained “focused” on his driving.

Prosecutor Matthew Lawson said the defendant had been “distracted” by the call, and that is why he had not seen or heard Mr Dilworth’s attempts to stop him.

But defence barrister Ian Bridge said that if he had seen the van driver’s lights, he might not have stopped as he could have thought “It was some sort of nut case trying to overtake him”.

Kotlowksi, who has been a lorry driver for 20 years, had denied causing serious injury by careless driving.