Death by Dangerous
16 January 2024
Rupert Kent, prosecuting, achieved convictions for causing death, and causing serious injury, by dangerous driving after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court during which the defendant claimed, ultimately unsuccessfully, that a collision resulting in the death of a 14-year-old boy, and serious injury being caused to his aunt, was the result of sudden-onset sleep, attributable to a previously unidentified, but ultimately confirmed, diagnosis of severe sleep apnoea. After hearing contested expert evidence, the jury accepted the prosecution argument that the onset of sleep, even had it played a part in the incident, could not have been sudden and without warning, meaning the defendant’s driving, on any view, was dangerous
