MONTREAL — A Muslim man's panicked state of mind made him not criminally responsible for injuring a woman after he drove in reverse on a southern Quebec highway in 2009, a judge ruled.

In his written ruling released Dec. 5, Quebec Court Judge Serge Champoux acquitted Ahmed Khoumsi because he suffered an "exceptional experience" that led to the car crash that injured a mother of two near the town of Sherbrooke, Que., about 150 km east of Montreal.

Khoumsi sawed part of his finger as he was trimming hedges on Sept. 4, 2009, which was the 14th day of the month-long, Muslim holiday of Ramadan. It is forbidden to eat or drink from sunset to sunrise during the month.

In a panic, Khoumsi drove himself to hospital after wrapping his bloody finger. Court documents say that Khoumsi started feeling weak and faint immediately after getting in the car because of a lack of food and drink. Khoumsi got lost on the highway and started driving backwards.