Newbury man Ryan Willicombe has been convicted of manslaughter following a lengthy murder trial.
The 19-year-old, of Home Straight, was convicted by a unanimous jury verdict of manslaughter of Sheldon Lewcock in Tilehurst.
This was in an almost-four week long trial at Reading Crown Court.
Mr Willicombe pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving on March 21.
But the trial for murder continued.
The jury found Mr Willicombe not guilty of the murder of Sheldon Lewcock, and attempted GBH of Kayden Williams.
The incident occurred in August 2022 when 19-year-old Sheldon and Kayden were riding e-bikes, on Pierces Hill in Tilehurst.
At around 6.10pm, a van, driven by Mr Willicombe, was on the wrong side of the road, and hit Mr Lewcock.
Mr Lewcock was taken to hospital, where he died five days later.
Willcombe was arrested the following day and was formally charged on May 27, 2023.
Thames Valley Police said he will be sentenced on a date yet to be determined.
Senior investigating officer, detective inspector Alice Broad, said: “This has been a difficult and complex investigation and trial at Reading Crown Court over the past few weeks.
“This conviction demonstrates that Ryan Willicombe was responsible for the death of Sheldon Lewcock, on the 4 August 2022 on Pierces Hill.
“My thoughts and that of Thames Valley Police very much remain with the family of Sheldon Lewcock at this difficult time.”
Local policing area commander for Reading, superintendent Steve Raffield said: “Thames Valley Police will never tolerate violence in its communities and will always seek to bring offenders like Ryan Willicombe to justice.”
We will have more on this story later.
