Disabled pedestrian jailed for three years over death of cyclist she told to get off pavement

A PARTIALLY sighted and disabled pedestrian has been jailed for three years over the death of a cyclist she shouted at to get off the pavement.

Auriol Grey, 49, gestured in a “hostile and aggressive way” towards retired midwife Celia Ward, 77, a court heard.

CCTV footage recorded Grey shouting “Get off the f---ing pavement” moments before Mrs Ward wobbled into the road and the path of a car.

She was pronounced dead at the scene after the incident on Oct 20 2020 in Huntingdon, Cambs.

Grey, of Huntingdon, who was described as childlike, was convicted of manslaughter last week and appeared before Peterborough Crown Court yesterday for sentencing.

The court had previously heard that police inquiries had failed to establish whether the pavement was a shared cycleway or not.

Judge Sean Enright said he acknowledged the partial blindness, cognitive and mobility issues and cerebral palsy from which Grey suffered.

But he added: “It does not reduce your understanding of right or wrong.”

He also said that up until presentencing remarks, Grey had not expressed a “word” of remorse. Gillian Hayter, Mrs Ward’s daughter, said in a victim impact statement: “The lack of any remorse from the accused cannot be underestimated in having a profound effect on us all.”

She added: “The panic and disbelief and shock of losing her in such an awful accident was hard to comprehend.

“But the news that it was not a tragic accident but a deliberate act of violence was incomprehensible. Mum is the least violent person. We have not had a chance to properly grieve and the court case has been a constant reminder to us that Mum is no longer here.”

In another victim impact statement, the car driver spoke of the untold trauma she had experienced.

Carla Money, a mother of two young children, said she was a confident driver on her way home from a playdate with her two-year-old when Mrs Ward fell into the path of her car. She said her “whole life” had been turned upside down, and it had taken her years to gain the confidence to drive again.

She added she had been suffering from PTSD which had led to the breakdown of her marriage. She said: “My heart aches for Mrs Ward’s family, they are forever in my heart.” It is understood Grey’s lawyers plan to appeal.