alcohol limit was acquitted of causing a man's death by dangerous driving in Supreme Court yesterday.

The verdict was met with tears of relief from Sandys resident Quinton George Ible, who hugged his family and friends.

But the wife of 33-year-old Humberto Pineda, who died in the 1998 head-on collision, burst into tears at the ruling and told The Royal Gazette : "Don't talk to me.'' Ible, who refused to comment after the verdict, was also acquitted of causing death by driving while over the legal alcohol limit, but was found guilty of driving while over the limit.

The court heard that when Ible was breathalysed, he gave a reading of 143 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood -- the legal limit is 80 milligrams.

In sentencing, Assistant Justice Philip Storr said: "This verdict in no way detracts from the fact that this is a very serious matter.

"It will undoubtedly be on your conscience for the rest of your life and, who knows, if you hadn't gotten behind the wheel after drinking, then you may have been in a better position to have avoided this accident.'' Mr. Justice Storr continued: "This is exactly what happens when you have too much to drink.'' He fined Ible $1,000 and took him off the road for two years.

It was the end of a three-day trial in which a Police witness testified that Ible's van was on the wrong side of the road when the accident occurred on September 18, 1998, near the Southampton Rangers Football Club on South Road.

However, in cross-examination by Ible's attorney Delroy Duncan, Det. Con.

Antoine Fox conceded that the method he used to come to his conclusion, checking which side of the road the debris was on, was "only meant to be used in collaboration with more reliable evidence''.

In summing up, Mr. Duncan suggested to the jury that the accident investigator's evidence was "self contradictory'' and added: "I submit that it has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he was in the wrong lane.'' Taking the stand, Ible, 51, of Laurel Lane, said he was on the correct side of the road when he heard a "real loud bang''.

"I thought someone had thrown something,'' he said. "I never saw any lights approaching me.'' Defence witness Jean Anne Nusum, who said she saw the accident from the balcony of Southampton Rangers, backed up those claims by saying she saw Ible's van driving on the correct side of the road.

She added that, while the van had its lights on at the time of the crash, Mr.

Pineda's scooter did not.

In his final address, Mr. Duncan said he predicted all this evidence would add up to give the four-woman, eight-man jury "reason to doubt''.

Given his turn, Crown counsel Patrick Doherty asked the panel to use their "combined years of common sense'' in deciding the verdict.

He asked them to consider Ible's testimony that he thought his van had been hit by a rock when it collided with the scooter.

"Does that sound like the recollection of someone who is sober? Would you expect someone to know it when another vehicle ran into the front of theirs?'' he asked.

Referring to Det. Con. Fox's evidence, Mr. Doherty said: "He was just looking for physical evidence and wasn't on anybody's side.'' He also asked: "Would the debris have been there if the collision didn't happen in that lane?''