A FRENCH driver has been convicted of killing a 30-year-old Huddersfield man in a head-on crash almost a year ago.

He will be sentenced tomorrow.

Remy Lengo, 42, of Sholemoor Avenue, Chapeltown, Leeds, was convicted by a majority verdict of 10-2 of causing the death of motorcyclist Neil Manby of Flockton by dangerous driving.

Sentencing was adjourned until Friday for the probation to assess his suitability for unpaid work.

Although the judge said he was making no promises he wanted consideration to be given to a suspended sentence order.

Prosecutor Ian Howard had told the three-day trial that both men had been on their way to work on the early morning of March 1 last year when Lengo's Rover car collided head-on with Mr Manby's Honda motor scooter on the Wakefield Road at Lepton, Huddersfield.

The jury at Bradford Crown Court heard that the collision took place on the brow of a hill and that Lengo's Rover was on the wrong side of the road at the time.

Although Mr Howard said the prosecution did not have to prove why the Rover was on the wrong side of the road he suggested that because Lengo was a French national he might have reverted to driving on the right.

When he was questioned by police after the collision Lengo, who has lived in England for about three years, said he had been following a heavy goods vehicle which had pulled out to negotiate something parked on the nearside.

Lengo claimed that as the HGV went back on to its side of the carriageway he was confronted by Mr Manby coming towards him and it was too late to do anything about it.

Mr Howard said CCTV footage from a traffic light junction was checked after the accident.

It appeared that the two HGVs seen on the footage had travelled along the road after Lengo's Rover.

During his police interview Lengo said: "I'm really sorry. I didn't expect these things. I didn't want to kill anybody.

"If this car hadn't stopped suddenly at the side of the road and the lorry didn't overtake the accident wouldn't have happened."

Lengo was released on bail until Friday.