A motorist has been cleared of the murder of a woman who was crushed under her car in a minor collision, a court has heard.
Robert Barrow has been charged with knocking down and driving 49-year-old Tahereh Pirali-Dashti following a confrontation at Henlys Corner on January 20 last year, the court heard.
The 55-year-old accused denied the murder, saying what happened on the North Circular was an “accident”.
A jury has found Barrow, of Chigwell, not guilty of the murder of Ms Pirali-Dashti and another charge of manslaughter.
He was also found not guilty of assaulting her husband by beating him.
The court heard that Ms Pirali-Dashti was heading for Brent Cross with her husband, Asghar Moradmand, when their Honda Civic came across Barrow’s Volkswagen Touareg.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer alleged Barrow “lost his temper” as a result of the minor collision and punched Mr Moradmand in the face.
Ms Pirali-Dashti was standing in front of the accused’s car phoning the police when Barrow threw her to the ground, jurors heard.
Ms Heer said, “Then, as she lay there helplessly, he crushed her, causing her severe crush injuries from which she later died.”
Mrs Pirali-Dashti’s husband had yelled at Barrow to stop as he walked forward, the Old Bailey heard.
In testifying, Barrow insisted it was an “accident”.
He told jurors: “I was starting to get scared. I didn’t go out to kill and murder someone.”
When asked if he was afraid at the time of hitting Mr. Moradmand who was standing near his wife in front of the car, the accused replied: in front of my car?
“You are not putting yourself in danger.”
He told jurors he mistakenly thought the couple were “trying to scam me” so he just wanted to “get away”.
Barrow punched and thanked the court as he was cleared of all charges.
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Source: www.times-series.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-20 08:20:00
