EXCLUSIVEDisabled woman wrongly jailed for causing cyclists death applies for compensation after spending a year behind bars
A disabled woman, who was jailed for causing the death of a cyclist before having her conviction quashed, is seeking compensation for unnecessary and prolonged suffering after spending a year behind bars.
A disabled woman, who was jailed for causing the death of a cyclist before having her conviction quashed, is seeking compensation for unnecessary and prolonged suffering after spending a year behind bars.
Auriol Grey is now recalibrating back into the community after going through untold pain.
Ms Grey, 50, who has cerebral palsy and partial blindness, had been imprisoned for three years for causing the death of retired midwife Celia Ward in a pavement row whilst shouting and gesticulating at her as she was walking.
But in May she dramatically had her manslaughter conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal.
The decision led her family to call for lessons to be learned, saying that vulnerable people needed better support from the justice system.
Auriol Grey (pictured in April) is now recalibrating back into the community after going through untold pain after spending a year behind bars
Footage of the incident that saw Grey jailed showed Celia Ward (pictured with her husband David) wobble into the road in Huntingdon, where she was struck by a VW Passat
Grey shouted Get off the f***ing pavement as the retired midwife approached her on the pavement
CCTV footage showed Ms Ward falling into the road moments before she was struck by a car
They said her terrifying ordeal had led to her unnecessary and prolonged suffering.
Her lawyer said it caused her untold pain.
Over the past four months Ms Grey has been re-settling back into normal life in her close knit neighbourhood in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
Her best friend Roman Ramsey told MailOnline: Auriol is doing OK. Shes pleased to be home and is getting on with her life and is relieved she is no longer being branded a killer.
The retired stone mason, 78, who had regularly visited her behind bars, said: I had lunch with her this week and she is enjoying being out in the community.
She is a well liked and popular person here.
Mr Ramsey added: Auriol is applying for compensation after having her conviction overturned and being completely exonerated.
If she is paid any money, and she certainly should be, she knows it cannot make up for what happened but she feels the process could help recognise the pain and harm caused.
In the first image of Auriol Grey since her release from prison (pictured in April), she can be seen out shopping with a friend
Grey left the scene of the collision before emergency services arrived and went to a local supermarket
Auriol was very upset at being jailed in the first place. She should never have been locked up. She spent a year inside.
Her friends, family and neighbours all thought it was totally ridiculous she had been convicted of manslaughter and given a custodial sentence.
Another pal Robert Reed said: Auriol is recalibrating back into the community. She is trying to put this episode of her life behind her.
She is seeking compensation, under miscarriage of justice rules, which allows people to apply if their conviction has been overturned.
It is not known how many hundreds or thousands of pounds she may be awarded if successful.
Ms Greys nightmare began as she was walking along a pavement near her home in October 2020 with cyclist Mrs Ward coming towards her.
She told the 77-year-old grandma and retired midwife to Get off the f***** pavement and frantically waved her arms at her.
Grey repeatedly told police she couldnt remember details of the incident which led to Ms Wards death
The cyclist from nearby Wyton veered into the road and sadly died after she was struck by a car driving past.
Ms Grey was charged with manslaughter - a charge she denied but was found guilty after a retrial. She was jailed for three years in March 2023.
In March this year she was freed on unconditional bail after winning the right to challenge her conviction.
She had been welcomed home by big hugs and kind words from supportive neighbours, who had been outraged by her conviction.
She celebrated her freedom with a riverside walk and a slap up breakfast at a local Wetherspoons restaurant.
Ms Grey has a cleft foot and walks with a supportive splint on her right leg. She is also partially blind and suffers with cerebral palsy affecting her mobility and co-ordination.
Three female Court of appeal judges, Dame Victoria Sharp sitting with Mrs Justice Yip and Mrs Justice Farbey, said: In our judgment, the prosecution case was insufficient even to be left to the jury.
Scene of the fatal accident - a one way street in Nursery Road, a seven-minute walk from Auriols home. She had been walking up along the pavement to the nearby shops when she confronted the pensioner cyclist
Auriol Greys home in a quiet close in Huntingdon town centre, Cambridgeshire, run by Papworth Trust, where she lived alone in a rented one-bed ground floor flat with a red-brick facade where she has been for 17 years
In all the circumstances, we have no hesitation in concluding that the appellants conviction for manslaughter is unsafe
Following the ruling, Ms Greys family - who watched the appeal via video link - said in a statement: Whilst we welcome the decision of the Court of Appeal, our thoughts today are also with the Ward family, and I am a sure a day doesnt go by when they dont remember their tragic loss.
We are very relieved that Auriols prison ordeal is over and we would like to thank the staff and inmates of HMP Peterborough for the kindness and consideration they have shown over the last year.
There has been unnecessary and prolonged suffering and vulnerable people like Auriol need better support from the justice system - we hope lessons will be learnt.
The court heard Ms Grey, who attended the hearing having been released from prison pending the appeal, was charged with unlawful act manslaughter - which requires an unlawful action that caused death to have to taken place.
However, her lawyers told appeal judges no such base offence was ever identified at the trial.
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.
Auriol Grey arriving at Peterborough Crown Court, Cambridgeshire, for sentencing for the manslaughter on March 2, 2023
The senior judge continued: Had Mrs Ward not died we regard it as inconceivable that the appellant would have been charged with assault.
During her original trial, Ms Greys actions had been described as hostile gesticulation towards Mrs Ward.
However, Adrian Darbishire KC, for Ms Grey, said in the appeal: Hostile gesticulation is not a crime, otherwise we would have 50,000 football fans each weekend being apprehended.
Following the quashing of her conviction, her lawyers Hickman & Rose said in a statement:
At about 2.20 pm on Tuesday, 20 October 2020, Auriol Grey was walking along the pavement alongside the main ring road in the centre of Huntingdon. She was then aged 46. She was born with brain damage and, as a child, underwent a partial left hemispherectomy.
As a result in some respects, now as an adult, she suffered from various physical disabilities and a degree of impaired cognitive function. She was walking slowly, with the road on her left-hand side, as she generally preferred to walk with the road on her left because she had no peripheral vision to her right and had limited use of her right leg and right arm.
Auriol celebrated The Queen¿s Platinum Jubilee in June last year - wearing a lilac cardigan in MailOnlines exclusive photo
Celia Ward was cycling towards Ms Grey on the pavement. It appears that Mrs Ward often cycled on the pavement, where there was no safe cycle lane for her to use. At that time, there was no marked cycle lane alongside the ring road and, so, no designated route along which Mrs Ward could cycle.
Ms Grey became aware of Mrs Ward approaching. As the CCTV footage showed, as an autistic disabled woman, with impaired vision, she felt annoyed to have to contend with a cyclist on the pavement as well as other hazards. As Mrs Ward continued cycling directly towards her, Ms Grey gesticulated with her left hand in what was described at the trial as a shooing motion.
At the same time, Ms Grey said loudly, Get off the f****g pavement. As Mrs Ward came very close to Ms Grey, she toppled into the road and into the path of oncoming traffic.
For reasons which remain unclear, the legal elements of unlawful act manslaughter were never properly identified, nor were they explained to the jury.
This was a fundamental and material illegal error as a result of which the Court had no hesitation in concluding that Ms Greys conviction was unsafe.
Auriol Grey (pictured), who is partially blind and has a club foot and walks with a supportive splint on her right leg, suffered brain damage at birth, according to her mother
As the Court found, once the legal elements of the offence were properly understood, it was clear that there was no proper basis for Ms Grey to be convicted of manslaughter, or indeed any offence. As a result, her conviction was quashed.
Ms Grey simply should never have been charged.
Neither Mrs Wards family, nor Ms Grey and hers, should ever have been put through this ordeal. Mrs Ward should never have been faced with the choice between cycling on the pavement or cycling on a busy and dangerous ring road.
Had a clear and well-signed cycle path been in place, safely separating vulnerable pedestrians such as Ms Grey, this accident would never have occurred
Equally, misconceived prosecutions and wrongful convictions such as this cause untold pain to all those affected, including the family of the deceased, as well as the person wrongly accused.
The Ministry of Justice has declined to comment on Ms Greys compensation claim.
