A jury has returned a unanimous not guilty verdict in the death by dangerous driving trial of Jackson Joseph Paul.

Mr Paul, 37, kept his emotions in check as the foreman of the seven-strong jury announced the verdict at around 1pm today (Thursday), after some four and a half hours of deliberations.

Mr Paul was acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving and the alternative, lesser offence of causing death by careless driving.

Following the not guilty verdicts, he sat with his head bowed in the dock.

Deemster Kainth thanked members of the public gallery for the restraint and dignity they had shown throughout the trial.

He told Mr Paul: ‘You are now formally discharged - you have been found not guilty. Proceedings come to an end against you.’

Jordan Thomas, 29, suffered catastrophic injuries during the incident on Harbour Road, Onchan, on the evening of Sunday, February 25, 2024.

He was transferred to Aintree Hospital, Liverpool, where he died on March 4.

Taking the stand earlier this week, Mr Paul told the jury he had been driving along Harbour Road when a man jumped onto the car’s bonnet, started pulling on the windscreen wipers and punching the windscreen.

He said: ‘I was just reacting to the crazy situation. I was fearful and panicked.’

The prosecution argued that Mr Paul’s actions had not been ‘reasonable nor proportionate’ when he reversed a short distance with Mr Thomas on the bonnet, then accelerated to a speed of at least 20mph before braking hard.

However, Mr Paul told the jury he had accidentally driven forward rather than reversing.

What the jury had not been told was that this was a retrial.

Mr Paul was convicted following a trial in February last year but successfully appealed against his conviction.

His six-year jail term had previously been reduced to four years on appeal.

Harrowing video footage taken from inside the car before the fatal collision was shown to the jury during the trial.

The first video showed Mr Thomas lying across the bonnet of the BMW on his stomach as the car reversed.

The car horn could be heard beeping as Mr Thomas was seen pulling on the windscreen wiper before saying: ‘Go, go, go.’

In a second video, he was shown lying across the windscreen as the car moved forward, before sliding down the bonnet and falling backwards onto the road.

The front-seat passenger could be heard saying: ‘Slow, slow, slow,’ followed by: ‘No, no’.

That passenger was a professional kickboxer who did not give evidence at the trial but told police at the scene that he was terrified when the man started attacking the car.

At the start of the trial, prosecutor Roger Kane said the victim’s behaviour before the fatal collision was ‘bizarre’.

Toxicology tests showed no substances in the victim’s body other than prescribed and over-the-counter medicine.

On the night of the collision, Mr Paul had gone for an evening drive with his flatmate.

When they reached Harbour Road, a man appeared from between parked cars. Mr Paul stopped and motioned for him to cross the road. Instead, the man got onto the bonnet and grabbed the windscreen wipers.

In police interview, Mr Paul said: ‘I was honking him and that aggravated him. He started punching the glass.’

The jury heard that shortly before the fatal collision, the victim had jumped onto the bonnet of another car.