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Driver who killed Kalgoorlie teen Elijah Doughty found not guilty of manslaughter

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UPDATE: 

The driver who killed a teenager by running him down as the 14-year-old rode a stolen motorcycle in WA's Goldfields region has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been found not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of the lesser charge of dangerous driving causing death.

He will be eligible for parole in February after his sentence was backdated from August last year, having been remanded in custody since then.

The man had told police he was chasing Elijah Doughty "too close" but didn't mean to drive over him, the court heard during a week long trial.

He was was charged last year with manslaughter over the death in Boulder, near Kalgoorlie.

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Elijah's death sparked race riots in Kalgoorlie, with Indigenous supporters carrying signs calling for 'justice' and 'the lives of our kids matter'. 

A violent riot erupted outside the Kalgoorlie courthouse when the accused man was first due to face court, with police officers injured.

Today people waiting to hear the verdict outside the Perth court reacted with anger at the decision. 

"We are human beings too," one man shouted.

"Elijah was a young boy! Your laws need to be changed!" 

There was a big police presence at the court as the verdict was handed down. 

The Supreme Court of WA had heard on Monday the man saw the boy riding one of two motorbikes that had been stolen from his property a day earlier, gave chase on a wet and uneven dirt track, and admitted he was "too close" when the teenager suddenly turned in front of his ute.

The boy tumbled under the car after the impact and died instantly from severe injuries to his neck, chest, pelvis and right leg, and also suffered a fractured skull and bruised lungs.

Defence counsel Seamus Rafferty had told the court his client was guilty of dangerous driving occasioning death but not manslaughter.

He said the man had made a split-second decision that he would always regret and had gone to the area to look for his bikes after police had told him it was a "dumping ground".

-with AAP