MOSS “STAGGERED” AT CHARGE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28921, 15 June 1959, Page 3

MOSS “STAGGERED” AT CHARGE

Driver’s Death In German Race (NJB. Press Association— Copyright) LONDON, June 12. The British racing driver Stirling Moss said at .London Airport today that he was “completely innocent” of a charge of “negligently killing” the Swiss driver Fausto Meyrat during Germany’s Neurburgring sports car race on Sunday. Meyrat, driving a German AutoUnion, ran off the track in the twenty-sixth lap of the 44-lap race, which Moss won. Their cars were reported to have bumped during the race. Meyrat died in hospital on Tuesday. His widow was reported to have laid a charge of “negligent killing” against Moss yesterday. Moss said he was “staggered” at the charge. “I know I am completely innocent, and I feel if there was negligence, it was not on my part,” he said. “Quite early in the race, I was going to pass him on the left on a fairly fast curve. He suddenly pulled over in front of me and we may or may not have touched. I did not feel anything.. But then he lost control. If it was necessary for him to go to’ Germany, he would do so willingly, he said. “I am very sorry for the widow,” he said. “But lam concerned that such a charge—l believe there has been nothing like it before—can be laid in this way.” Moss, who first landed at Manchester Airport from a business trip to Canada, said there: “The German Automobile Association carried out an inquiry as a matter of course immediately after the race, and I understand they saw no grounds at all for the allegation.” The Coblenz Prosecutor’s Office said yesterday it would study the widow’s charge and decide whether to lay a formal charge against Moss, which would mean Court proceedings.