A BRECON motorist accused of sending “cheeky monkey” emoji messages moments before a fatal crash has been cleared of causing death by dangerous driving.

Gemma Evans, 23, had previously admitted a lesser charge of causing death by careless driving and will be sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday.During her trial the court heard Evans was “grossly distracted”, using Facebook and WhatsApp, while driving in the dark at 50mph.

Diane Price, 58, also from Brecon, was killed outright when Evans’ black Mini veered across a straight stretch of the A40 at Llanspyddid.

Police found “cheeky monkey” emojis on a series of text messages on Evans’ mobile phone, along with hearts and thumbs-up signs.

Evans claimed she had no memory of the accident but denied using her mobile phone during her journey to work at 7.30am on December 9 2016.

The trial jury heard there was no evidence that Evans was driving erratically before the horrific crash.

Lucy Crowther, defending, said: “It was not possible to determine the position of her Mini when the messages were received and sent.

“There was no evidence she was holding or touching her phone.

“Evans is not a boy racer driving around in a car with go faster stripes.

“She can’t explain what happened but it doesn’t follow that she was driving dangerously.”

Judge Patrick Curran described it as a "very difficult, very sad and serious case".

Evans sobbed as the jury cleared her of causing death by dangerous driving after 90 minutes of deliberations.