A court has found Father Timofei (born Alexei Podobedov) not guilty of a traffic accident on the Garden Ring in Moscow this summer, reports Interfax.

"On September 27 an end was ordered to the administrative proceedings in the accident case. In the absence of an administrative violation, the charges were dropped. Podobedov was found not guilty, " said Father Timofei's lawyer, Anastasia Knyazhevskiy.

According to Knyazhevskiy, "The traffic officer was not authorized to write up an administrative offence."

"For this reason the charged must be released from liability," she said.

Meanwhile, the court upheld a decision of a lower court to deprive Father Timofei of his driving license.

Father Timofei in turn, said that media reports yesterday that said he was found guilty did not agree with the facts.

"On the night of July 31, there was a collision, I suffered from amnesia for some time, and then I remember how I was helped to get out of the car. Traffic officers knocked on the hood of my car, saying it was stolen, andI was detained until the owner of the car came," said Father Timothy.

"No one offered to take a witness statement from me, I have not even seen any witnesses. All the documents that I signed in the police car were about the accident itself. Additionally, there was a man in the car who even at one point fell asleep," he added.

The car accident involving Father Timofei occurred on July 31. While driving a BMW sports car with diplomatic plates along the Garden Ring Road, he crashed into another car that was moving in the same direction, and then flew into the oncoming lane and collided with another car. The victims said that at the time of accident, the priest was drunk and could barely stand. Father Timofei denied the allegations and insisted he was in poor health.