A PEDESTRIAN jailed when an OAP cyclist she rowed with died after falling in a road today had her manslaughter conviction overturned.
Auriol Grey, 49, was found to have gestured in a “hostile and aggressive” way to Celia Ward – telling her to “get off the f***ing pavement”.
Auriol Grey gestured to Celia Ward as she cycled towards her
The pensioner veered into the road and was hit by an oncoming car
Grey was previously jailed for three years
Celia, pictured with her husband David, was declared dead at the scene
Footage then showed the 77-year-old veering into the road where she was hit by a car and later died.
Grey was jailed for three years in March last year after she was found guilty of manslaughter.
Three Court of Appeal judges today overturned her conviction after finding it was “unsafe”.
Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Mrs Justice Yip and Mrs Justice Farbey, said: “In our judgment, the prosecution case was insufficient event to be left to the jury.”
The court was told Grey had been charged with unlawful act manslaughter – meaning there must be an unlawful action that caused death.
But her lawyer Adrian Darbishire KC argued no such “base offence” was ever identified at the trial.
The barrister added: “The entire trial process and the preparation of such proceeded on a false legal footing.”
Mr Darbishire also argued “hostile gesticulation” is not a crime, otherwise “we would have 50,000 football fans each weekend being apprehended”.
The two women were passing each other on the street in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, in October 2020 when the horror unfolded.
Grey could be seen raising her hand as Celia cycled towards her on the pavement.
The retired midwife then loses her balance and staggers into the road in the path of an oncoming VW Passat.
In her evidence, Grey claimed she felt “anxious” as the bike was travelling “fast” in the middle of the pavement.
She also suggested she could have lifted her hand “unintentionally” as Celia cycled towards her.
Although it is illegal to cycle on the pavement, the court was told police could not “categorically” state whether the street was a shared cycleway.
But sentencing her last year, Judge Sean Enright said she was “territorial about the pavement” and “resented” the cyclist being there.
The court was told Grey has cerebral palsy and was partially sighted but the judge told her: “These actions are not explained by disability.”
Judge Enright also slammed her “dishonest account in [police] interview” and said there was “not a word about remorse until today”.
Celia could be seen veering into the road