THE driver who left toddlers Sophie Delezio and Molly Wood with horrific injuries after he crashed into a Sydney childcare centre apologised to them for the first time yesterday after he was cleared of negligent driving.

Donald McNeall, 69, looked a shattered man as he left the Downing Street Local Court in Sydney after being found not guilty of negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm.

“There is not a single day that goes by where I do not think about what has happened to these young children and their families,” Mr McNeall said.

“I am deeply sorry for the terrible injuries and pain suffered by Sophie Delezio and Molly Wood and to their families as a result of this horrific accident.

“I intend to contact the Delezio and Wood families privately to express my feelings about what happened.”

He was cleared because of a seizure he suffered at the time of the accident in December 2003 and the fact that he was unaware he was susceptible to fits.

In the courtroom, Mr McNeall sat bowed and expressionless as magistrate Ross Pogson read his judgment, which included details of Mr McNeall’s excessive drinking and poor health.

Mr Pogson quoted several medical experts who suggested that Mr McNeall had suffered a seizure and had not intentionally driven into the centre at Fairlight, near Manly.

The magistrate found “beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did not know and had no reasonable cause to suspect that he was subject to seizures or blackouts on the 15th December, 2003, and therefore had no reason to believe that it was not safe for him to drive that day.”

Mr Pogson recommended that Mr McNeall not be reissued with a driving licence until such time as medical evidence was provided to the Roads and Traffic Authority that he was fit to hold one.

The heroic struggles of Sophie Delezio and Molly Wood, neither of whom were expected to live in the first few days after the accident at the Roundhouse Childcare Centre, have moved many people.

Mr McNeall’s burning car had to be lifted off both girls, who were sleeping in the centre at the time of the accident.

Sophie, who was just 2 1/2 at the time of the tragedy, lost both feet, her right ear and some fingers. She sustained third degree burns to 85 per cent of her body.

Molly, who was also 2, received burns to 40per cent of her body.

The Delezio family was not commenting yesterday on Mr McNeall’s acquittal, on the advice of their lawyer.

But Manly Mayor Peter Macdonald said the community perceived the verdict as “unfinished business”.

“I’d like to speak on behalf of the community in saying that there is a feeling of disbelief that the accused was acquitted,” Dr Macdonald said.

“It doesn’t give anyone a lot of comfort, because they are still uncertain as to how this (accident) actually did happen.

“I don’t think this is the end of it. There may well be civil action taken by various parties.”