Southampton man cleared of death by careless driving
Tristan Medus, 47, was involved in a two-vehicle crash on the A360 at around 7.30pm on Thursday, May 25, 2023, while he was driving home from work in Nursling, Hampshire. Medus, who previously resided at Rollestone Mobile Home Park near Shrewton, was driving northbound on the rural road. The court was told the car in front of Medus, a red Mazda MX5, braked to avoid a pheasant in a 'dip' in the road in the seconds before the crash.
After he came over the brow of a hill, part of Medus' red Toyota Corolla partly crossed onto the other side of the road. It then crashed into a silver Renault Trafic van driven by Andrew Fallows, 20, who was heading in the other direction, towards Salisbury. Fallows was killed[1] when his van overturned and hit a tree.
His passenger, a colleague in his 50s, sustained serious injuries including a dislocated jaw and fractured ribs. The two men used the van for their work installing audio-visual equipment. Medus' trial at Winchester Crown Court[2] began on September 15.
The jury was asked to consider if Medus' driving was 'careful and competent'. Representing Medus, solicitor Charles Langley said in his closing remarks: "There's nothing to show that Mr Medus was driving carelessly. We say this is a very tragic accident.
"There's no evidence at all to show he didn't have his attention in the right place." 
Mr Barker also disputed Medus' claim that the Mazda was stationary or nearly stopped in the road, saying it 'came to rest' 21 metres from the crash site. The prosecuting lawyer told jurors that the driver of car behind Medus, a Ford, was able to come to a safe stop before reaching the scene of the collision without having to emergency brake. However, the jurors arrived at a not-guilty verdict on both counts after seven hours and 12 minutes of deliberation on Thursday morning (September 25).
During the trial, the court heard evidence from Wiltshire Police forensic crash investigator Steven Fair, the drivers in the vehicles directly ahead of and behind Mr Medus and the defendant himself. Judge Angela Morris described the trial as a "difficult case". She told jurors: "Thank you very much for the time you have taken in deliberating in respect of this case.
"Anyone who tells you that jury service is a waste of time, or it is easy, does not know what they are talking about."
References
- ^ was killed (www.salisburyjournal.co.uk)
- ^ trial at Winchester Crown Court (www.salisburyjournal.co.uk)