Taryn Turner secures acquittal in dangerous driving case

21st February 2018 Park Square Barristers

Taryn Turner represented KT in a trial before HHJ Reed QC sitting at Sheffield Crown Court.

A serious incident of dangerous driving, in which a high-powered car was involved in a dangerous, high-speed, police pursuit – on land and from the air (by helicopter) – at times driving through red lights, travelling on the wrong side of the carriageway, at double the speed limits, on occasion reaching 100mph. Ultimately, the driver lost control and the vehicle crashed (after midnight) into a bungalow. Retired, sleeping, householders, woke to found the vehicle’s bonnet embedded in a bedroom. Building damage was estimated to be in excess of £54k.

The issue at trial was identification – KT admitted the car was his, that he was in the vehicle at the time of the crash, but always asserted the car was driven by someone else. Following defence submissions at the close of the prosecution case, the trial judge directed the jury acquit KT.

Taryn Turner was instructed by Tate’s Solicitors, Leeds.

Taryn Turner is a specialist criminal-defence advocate. She is a Legal 500 ‘Leading Individual’ and in 2001 was appointed to sit as a Recorder in the Crown Court.