Woman who caused cyclist to fall into path of car has conviction overturned

Auriol Grey’s actions had been described as ‘hostile gesticulation’ towards Celia Ward during her original trial

A pedestrian who shouted and waved her arm at a cyclist, causing her to fall into the path of an oncoming car, has had her manslaughter conviction overturned at the Court of Appeal.

Auriol Grey was seen on CCTV shouting at retired midwife Celia Ward to “get off the f***ing pavement” in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, causing her to fall into the road.

Grandmother Ms Ward, 77, of Wyton, Cambridgeshire, died after she was struck by a car in the incident in October 2020.

Ms Grey, who has cerebral palsy and partial blindness, denied manslaughter but was found guilty after a retrial and was jailed for three years in March 2023.

But at the end of a hearing on Wednesday, three judges at the Court of Appeal in London overturned her conviction.

Sitting with Mrs Justice Yip and Mrs Justice Farbey, Dame Victoria Sharp said: “In our judgment, the prosecution case was insufficient even to be left to the jury.”

She continued: “In all the circumstances, we have no hesitation in concluding that the appellant’s conviction for manslaughter is unsafe.”

The court heard Ms Grey, who attended the hearing, was charged with unlawful act manslaughter – which requires an unlawful action to take place that caused death.

Auriol Grey, who shouted and waved at a cyclist causing her to fall into the path of an oncoming car, leaving the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Wednesday (Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

However, her lawyers told appeal judges that no such “base offence” was ever identified at the trial.

Adrian Darbishire KC, for Ms Grey, said: “The trial seems to have proceeded on the basis that some kind of unlawfulness, undefined and unspecified, was sufficient to found this offence of homicide.”

Dame Victoria and her fellow appeal judges agreed, ruling that the jury were not asked to decide “the fundamental question of whether a base offence was established”.

The senior judge continued: “The appellant’s actions that day contributed to Mrs Ward’s untimely death … Had Mrs Ward not died, we regard it as inconceivable that the appellant would have been charged with assault.”

Screengrab taken from CCTV dated 20 October 2020 showing Auriol Grey walking on the pavement before causing Celia Ward to fall into the path of an oncoming vehicle (Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire)

Ms Grey’s actions had been described as “hostile gesticulation” towards Ms Ward during her original trial.

However, Mr Darbishire said in the appeal: “Hostile gesticulation is not a crime, otherwise we would have 50,000 football fans each weekend being apprehended.”

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had responded to the appeal, with its barrister Simon Spence KC telling the court it was accepted that “common assault as the base offence was not identified by name”.

After the judges had given their ruling, Mr Spence asked for Ms Grey’s case to be sent back to the crown court for a retrial, which was denied.