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Date Published: 05/10/2023

Drunk driver who killed British man in Palma acquitted

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The 39-year-old British national was knocked down at a pedestrian crossing in Mallorca

Drunk driver who killed British man in Palma acquitted

The Provincial Court in Palma has this week upheld the ruling of a lower court that last year absolved a drunk driver of causing the death of a local British resident.

Alan J Taylor, 39, was living in the Balearic Islands on June 10, 2020, when he was run over on the pedestrian crossing on the busy Avenida Argentina in central Palma. The Briton was rushed to hospital but sadly passed away from his injuries a few days later.

Despite being twice over the legal limit for alcohol, the driver who killed Mr Taylor has been acquitted.

The young driver was originally accused of speeding through a red light but several witness reports refuted this, and the courts ultimately agreed that alcohol played no part in the tragic accident.

“The car crossed on green, but at high speed. It was clear from afar that what happened was going to happen. I myself shouted “He’s going to run over him’,” one witness told the court.

Instead, the judge pointed out that an Emaya municipal services truck was blocking the pedestrian’s view of oncoming traffic and he suggested that the fact that Mr Taylor tested positive for alcohol and benzodiazepines himself might have slowed his reflexes.

The unnamed driver claims not to have realised the victim was on the pedestrian crossing until he heard a thud and saw him lying on the ground.

Following the initial ruling, the Prosecutor’s Office asked that the driver be jailed for two and a half years and have his licence suspended for three and a half years.

In other news: British tourist arrested in Mallorca for touching up flight attendant

Image: Freepik

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