Palmer Considers Appeal

Former Formula One driver Jonathan Palmer said yesterday his lawyers were considering an appeal, after a Portuguese court has found him guilty of negligent homicide.

Palmer was tried for a 1996 road accident that killed a local rally driver. But the Briton's seven-month jail sentence was scrapped under a 1999 amnesty for sentences of up to one year.

"I am relieved that the case has been concluded as it has been constantly on my mind for the last seven years," said the former BBC commentator. "But I appreciate that Mr Slattum's family continues to suffer as a result of my mistake. I cannot express too strongly my sorrow and remorse."

47-year-old Palmer said the head-on collision with Rein Slattum's Ford Sierra Cosworth occurred after he had been driven from Lisbon to a remote coastal location where he was to make a promotional film for Honda.

"Before filming I wanted to familiarise myself with the car and roads so took out the right-hand drive Honda car provided for the purpose," he said.

Inadvertently, Palmer set off on the wrong side of the deserted road - something he only realised after the collision.

"I had completely forgotten I was in Portugal and should have driven on the right, not the left, and was misled by the right-hand drive configuration of the Honda car," he said. "Unfortunately the initial positioning of the Sierra, as its driver cut the corner coming towards me, did not alert me to my mistake either."