AN HGV driver has been cleared of dangerous driving following a trial.

Carl Jones, 50, of Maes Cynnin in St Clears, had been charged with dangerous driving following an incident approaching the St Clears roundabout on the A40 on April 4 last year.

It was alleged that Jones forced a driver partially off the road by veering in to the left-hand lane.

He denied the offence.

Following three hours and 21 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a not guilty verdict to dangerous driving, as well as not guilty to an alternative offence of careless driving.

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​The jury was played dashcam footage from the complainant’s car, which showed her overtaking the lorry – which was transported hay bales to a nearby farm – before immediately moving in front of it.

As the car slowed, Jones’ lorry could be seen in the right-hand lane of the dual carriageway, before it moved halfway in to the left lane – causing the complainant to partially leave the road.

“I could see he was flashing his headlights and sounding his horn at me,” the complainant said, when asked about when she moved in front of the lorry.

“The lorry came in to my lane and forced me to move over the white line at the edge of the road.

“Either he’s lost control or he’s trying to purposely intimidate me.

“At that point I thought it was intentional.”

She denied cutting the lorry up when asked by prosecutor Alycia Carpanini.

Caitlin Brazel, defending, suggested that the complainant cutting in front of the lorry had caused Jones to break sharply, meaning he had to react to stop the lorry from going out of control or losing its load.

“Mr Jones’ momentary sway in to lane one was not intentional, but was a knock-on effect,” she said.

Ms Brazel said the complainant was “still travelling at speed” as she approached the roundabout in order to get back in front of the lorry.

“You were in the wrong lane weren’t you?,” she asked.

The complainant said she “was slowing down”, and added: “That was the [lane] I planned to take, but if I couldn’t have got in to lane one I could take the other exit.”

When asked by Ms Brazel if she had sufficient room to pull in front of the lorry, she said: “I could see it in my rear view mirror.”

“Mr Jones’ vehicle is approximately 44 tonnes,” Ms Brazel said.

“A vehicle carrying that level of weight would take a significant amount longer than your car to stop.”

Jones said he believed the complainant was on her phone at the time, however she denied this.

A Dyfed-Powys Police officer confirmed that this was not investigated, and neither was how close the car was to the front of the lorry when it moved in front of it.