By Tony O’Riley-
A former Conservative councillor has been convicted of killing his wife by deliberately running her over with his car outside their French home in 2017.
David Turtle, 67, was found guilty of murdering his wife, Stephanie, 50, and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.
Turtle served as a Conservative councillor on the Bournemouth Council between from May 2015 to July 2016.
The Cahors Criminal Court found that he had intentionally driven over his wife with his Mercedes car after a heated argument over a television programme.
Turtle told the court in south-west France that his wife’s death had been a tragic accident and had followed an evening of arguments at the home in Prayssac, near Cahors, over what to watch on television.
He denied that he deliberately driving into his wife, claiming he left the house to go for a drive and did not see her blocking the vehicle. He said that he put his foot on the accelerator and drove a few metres before realising that his wife was lying underneath the car. He claimed not to have realised immediately that he could feel any resistance under the tyres.
Turtle said he fell asleep on the couch following the initial row, before his wife woke him after midnight , leading to an escalating argument.
He claimed he decided to go for a drive and did not realise that his wife was in front of the car.
Lies
Patrick Serra, the public prosecutor, dismissed Turtle’s version of events as lies, telling the court his office was convinced that David Turtle “could not fail to have been aware of the fact that his wife was in front of the car when started to drive it. Mr Turtle started the car. If she was in front of it on the ground, wouldn’t she have stood up? Wouldn’t she have shouted?”.
Police said Ms Turtle had suffered a crushed rib cage, injuries to her collar bone, abdomen, pelvis and lungs and was found beneath a car by firefighters the following morning
The court finding comes at a bad time for the Conservative aprty nd Mps in general, whose conduct questions the integrity of the collective group.
Many Mps are genuine hardworking individuals, doing their best for their party and country, but the more revelations that come out about misconduct of Mps, the more the question of how wide genral misconduct among Mps in the tory party becomes a worrying thought.
Last week a judge found tha former Mp Griffiths raped his wife, despite his denials.
It ahs been hardly a few years since he resigned his position following allegations of sexual harassment and bullying.
British Mps conduct is a serious subject for wider discussion , in oirder to understand all its implications.