27/05/2005
NEWS STORY
Over eleven years after the accident which claimed the life of World Champion Ayrton Senna, Patrick Head and (former) designer Adrian Newey have both been acquitted of manslaughter.
The appeals court ruled that Adrian Newey was innocent, whilst the charge against Head was considered "timed out" under a statute of limitations.
Both men had previously been found not guilty of manslaughter charges in 1997, a decision which was upheld in 1999.
However, a new trial for former technical director Patrick Head and chief designer Adrian Newey, now with McLaren, was ordered in 2003, due to "material errors" - thought to relate to the appeals process - in the previous trials.
The prosecution in Italy alleged that the legendary Brazilian's car crashed as a result of a breakage to the steering column, which it claimed had been (badly) modified.
However, WilliamsF1 always contended that the actual cause of the crash - which still isn't known - was due to a series of events, the chain beginning with a driver error.
In both the 1997 and 1999 trials, the judge presiding over the case ruled that the prosecution had not proven its case.