Man who killed woman, 88, in court escape back on more driving charges

Friday, 12 June 2026

The aftermath of Legion’s 2018 head-on crash into a car - causing fatal injuries for an 88-year-old passenger - after fleeing police.

A man who killed an elderly woman with his reckless driving on Hamilton’s roads has been in court again on similar charges, although this time without killing innocent bystanders.

Legion Turner, 25, was sentenced to two months of jail and disqualified from driving for six months when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to charges of dangerous driving and failing to stop to ascertain injury after a crash.

Those charges arose from an incident that happened while Turner was behind the wheel of a black Honda car on Beatty St in Melville, about 10.45pm on Thursday December 11, last year.

He overtook another car at high speed on a corner, but misjudged the manoeuvre and side-swiped a parked car before crashing into an Audi that was coming the other way.

He ran off without checking if the driver or a passenger in the Audi was OK.

It was behaviour that had an uncanny similarity to an earlier incident in September 2018 when the then-17-year-old Turner fled the Hamilton District Court - where he was due to be sentenced on a raft of charges - and was soon driving up River Rd at high speed, with the police in pursuit.

Although the police broke off the chase on that occasion due to the manner of Turner’s driving, their worst fears were quickly realised when he flew around a corner and smashed head-on into a car coming the other way.

Inside that car was 88-year-old Pamela Cox, who suffered catastrophic injuries in the impact. She died four months later in Waikato Hospital, after succumbing to pneumonia that ended any chance of recovery.

Turner was charged with reckless driving causing death, and was eventually sentenced to four and a half years in jail.

He has also made other return visits to court, including in August 2024, when he received six months of community detention and two years of intensive supervision on charges of assault with a weapon - namely a car - abduction of a young person, and escaping police custody.