'I was accused of throwing my boyfriend 100ft to his death on holiday in Turkey'

12 August 2023 , 14:39

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Kayley Myers, 31, was facing 25 years in a Turkish prison after being accused of pushing her boyfriend from their hotel room balcony (Image: Newsflash)

A woman accused of throwing her boyfriend 100ft from their hotel balcony in Turkey has been acquitted of his murder.

Kayley Myers, 32, from Newcastle, has maintained she "didn't kill him" throughout her 16-month legal battle to clear her name and has now returned to the UK a free woman. In March last year, she was hauled into a Turkish jail after her boyfriend Reece Pegram, 22, was found dead in Antalya, a popular resort city in the south of the country.

Shortly after his body was discovered, Kayley was accused of being responsible for him plummeting from their third-floor balcony during a drunken row on their first full day at the resort. Kayley - who used to work in sales - was staring down a 25-year jail term in Turkey, which has a judicial system that brands the suspect guilty until they're proven innocent.

Reece Pegram died instantly after the 100ft drop (Facebook)

The 32-year-old claims she has been forced to stay at a secret address while she waits for Brits to realise she is innocent too. Speaking to The Sun, she said: “When the judge said I’d been acquitted and could fly home I broke down in tears and mouthed, ‘Thank you’. This has been hanging over me for the last 16 months. I’ve been through hell and it’s not over yet.

“I just want people to know the truth. I’ve been described as a violent and vicious person and I’m neither of those things. All I’m guilty of is having an argument with my boyfriend on holiday. I didn’t kill him. I didn’t throw him off the balcony. I’m not a horrendous murderer. I just couldn’t do that to someone."

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She said that only Reece could possibly know what happened that night, but that all the available evidence indicated that it was an accident. Kayley continued, saying how she misses the man she described as her "best friend" every day. During her court case, her defence argued that someone of her stature, weighing only 10 stone compared to Reece's 11, would be physically unable to throw him off the Balcony.

Pathologists also discovered traces of both cocaine and alcohol in Reece's blood and further evidence showed he had fallen feet first. If he was pushed, this would not have been the case. At a hearing last month, a judge concluded: “There is no definite and convincing evidence that is sufficient to punish her for the crime, free from any doubt. The accused is acquitted of the wrongful offence.”

Ryan Fahey