British tourist, 32, accused of hurling her boyfriend, 22, 100ft to his death from a Turkish hotel balcony is acquitted of murder – but faces new fight for her innocence to be accepted in the UK
- Kayley Myers was locked up after Reece Pegram was found dead at their hotel
- She was released after a judge ruled there was no ‘definite’ evidence against her
A British woman who was accused of throwing her boyfriend 100ft to his death from a hotel balcony in Turkey has returned home after a court ruled she was innocent.
Kayley Myers, from Newcastle, spent months behind bars in the Mediterranean country after her partner, Reece Pegram, was found dead at their resort last year.
Prosecutors alleged that the 32-year-old had thrown her 5ft 5in boyfriend off the balcony sparking a 16-month nightmare where she faced the prospect of being locked up for life.
But after a judge ruled there was ‘no definite and convincing evidence’ to convict her she has finally been allowed back to the UK bringing an end to one chapter of her ‘living nightmare’, she told the Sun.
However, now she’s back in Britain in a secret address as she faces a new battle – trying to convince people of her innocence and that she didn’t kill her boyfriend.
Kayley Myers, pictured, spent months in a Turkish prison accused of murder her boyfriend at a resort
The body of Reece Pegram, pictured, was found less than a day after the couple arrived in Turkey
The former sales rep had initially flown out with father-of-one Reece to the Turkish resort of Side in Antalya on March 11, last year, to celebrate their first anniversary together.
The couple checked into the five-star Hotel Side Star Elegance with plans to celebrate Reece’s 23rd birthday few days later.
Kayley says that they spent the first day drinking, with Reece being brought back to their hotel room by members of staff at 8pm.
This was followed by an argument about him allegedly cheating, during which a glass was smashed, with Kayley cutting her hand open trying to pick up the pieces.
She says when she went to clean up in the bathroom she heard a thump, which she thought was her boyfriend slamming the door while leaving to get more drinks.
The former hairdresser then sent him messages ‘telling him I was finished with him’ before growing concerned when he didn’t answer them or return to the room.
Kayley says she then went to sleep only to be woken up by Turkish police in the middle of the night who told her to get dressed and took her to a local police station.
After spending 12 hours waiting to be told what was happening, a translator arrived and delivered the news that would change her world – Reece was dead and she was being accused of murder.
She told the Sun: ‘I thought of the last words I said to him, that I hated him and didn’t want to be with him. I said I was finished with him.
‘I wish my last words to him had been ones of love, not anger.
‘In the very next sentence the translator said, ‘You have killed him’.’
Kayley was accused of throwing Reece, pictured, from their hotel balcony by Turkish prosecutors
The incident took place at the five-star Hotel Side Star Elegance on March 12, 2022
Kayley was allowed to leave Turkey, pictured, for the first time last month after the case was thrown out by a judge
She spent the next six months in a Turkish jail while waiting for her court case to move forward and vociferously protesting her innocence, while prosecutors called for her to spend 25 years behind bars.
Kayley was temporarily released in October as experts finished Reece’s post-mortem report, but was forbidden from leaving the country.
When published, the report claimed he had alcohol and cocaine in his system at the time of his death, and concluded that he had fallen feet-first from the balcony.
During the case her lawyer reportedly argued the use of these substances, along with antidepressants, can make people suicidal.
READ MORE HERE: British woman, 31, accused of hurling her boyfriend, 22, 100ft to his death from a Turkish hotel balcony ‘in a fit of jealousy’ is given conditional release amid ‘flaws in prosecution case’
They also said: ‘It is not possible for my client to lift the deceased person, who is so much heavier than herself, and throw him over the balcony railing.’
Despite this, it wasn’t until last month, on July 17, that the case against her was formally dropped, with a judge saying: ‘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.’
Kayley, who broke down in tears when she was told she could fly home, says she has returned to find she has ‘lost everything – my job, my home, my friends and my family’.
She said that she doesn’t want to add to the pain Reece’s family is suffering but ‘I need peope to know I didn’t do it’.
‘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’d swap places with him in a heartbeat if I could. He had so much to live for.
‘I miss him every day. He was my best friend.’
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