Huntingdon cyclist killer given leave to appeal against her conviction

Auriol Grey, who confronted the cyclist in Huntingdon, was convicted of manslaughter

A pedestrian whose actions led to the death of a 77-year-old cyclist who was riding on the pavement is to appeal against her manslaughter conviction.

Auriol Grey, 50, shouted an expletive and gestured aggressively towards Celia Ward, causing her to fall into the road in Cambridgeshire in 2020.

Grey, of Bradbury Place, Huntingdon, was jailed for three years in 2023.

Court of Appeal judges gave the go-ahead for her to appeal against her conviction at a hearing earlier.

Judges had dismissed her previous application for leave to appeal her sentence in May last year, saying it was "not arguably manifestly excessive".

The incident which led to the death of Mrs Ward, a 77-year-old grandmother from Wyton, near Huntingdon, happened during the afternoon of 20 October 2020.

The two women passed each other in opposite directions on the pavement of Huntingdon's ring road.

In CCTV footage, Grey could be heard shouting at Mrs Ward, a retired midwife, to "get off the [expletive] pavement".

At her trial, prosecutor Simon Spence KC said the defendant was "angered by the presence of a cyclist on a footpath" and gestured towards Mrs Ward, who fell into the path of a car.

Mrs Ward died at the scene.

The trial heard Grey had cerebral palsy and was partially sighted, but Judge Sean Enright said: "These actions are not explained by disability."

Celia Ward and her husband David married in 1967

Grey was found guilty and was jailed for three years in March 2023.

But at a hearing on Tuesday, three judges at the Court of Appeal gave Grey the go-ahead to challenge her conviction.

The court in London heard Grey was charged with unlawful act manslaughter, which requires that an unlawful action takes place to cause death.

However, her lawyers told appeal judges that no such action was considered by the jury at Grey's trial.

Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Mrs Justice Yip and Mr Justice Calver, said Grey's appeal could be heard.

"We are satisfied that the ground of appeal now advanced is arguable," Dame Victoria said.

The full appeal is expected to be heard in May, with Grey also able to make a bid to be released on bail.

Ben Rose, of Hickman & Rose solicitors, who are representing Grey, said: "Auriol Grey is an autistic, disabled person with impaired vision... In a case such as this, the prosecution is required to prove to the jury that she intended to cause Mrs Ward harm, or fear of harm.

"We say this did not happen, and as a result will ask the Court of Appeal when the case is heard in May to quash Ms Grey's conviction."