Acquittal in death by dangerous driving case

April 5, 2017

Thomas Stern has secured an acquittal for a Czech lorry driver, Jaroslav Horvath, who was tried for causing death by dangerous driving.

The incident occurred at 5am on 6th December 2015 at junction 7 of the M20, close to Maidstone. Jaroslav Horvath had parked his lorry on the hard-shoulder of the westbound slip road and was resting in the course of a journey from Germany to Essex. Mr Horvath had been asleep in the cab of the lorry when a Nissan Qashqai, driven by the deceased, collided into the back of it. The jury heard how a Kent Police road policing patrol had passed the slip road shortly before the collision and concluded Mr Horvath’s lorry (and other vehicles parked ahead of it) to be in a low risk position. The jury heard evidence of the deceased’s health difficulties and was asked to consider whether she had taken her own life.