Auriol Grey's manslaughter sentence overturned for killing cyclist. Correct decision?

[Locutus2000]

Reported in multiple outlets - BBC.

Mixed feelings - it was a complex case with no winners on any side.

If the woman on the bike wasn't struck by the pedestrian, it was reasonable for her to believe she would be. These things can escalate very quickly.

I was attacked by someone like this once. A carer pulled her off me. It seemed like it came out of nowhere, as I hadn't been looking in her direction.

Shared pathways (not saying this was one here) are dangerous. Cyclists assume they have right of way expecting pedestrians to jump out of their way when they should give them priority,’slow down, move around them slowly.

Grey IS vile.
How she lied through the police interview-
Ghastly beastly behaviour- She seemed to not give a shit about the woman she killed,”(contributed to her death)” but cared only for her wretched self.

Grey stomped towards the cyclist to make contact.
The cyclist was minding her own business when approached by a beastly behaved woman. Swearing and pushing the innocent cyclist.

Agree- She absolutely needs supervision- probably two Carers to manage her dangerous outbursts.

If I ever see AG coming towards me then I might give her a push, she's an awful person and is well known for it.

If she can push people, then she can be pushed too.

If you're autistic then surely you understand autism presents diffently in different people?

I’m glad too. My heart goes out to the family of the woman who died. Such a waste.

The thing is, people talking about whether her disabilities make her less culpable, or whether being a horrible aggressive person makes her more culpable - all that is irrelevant. She probably is a horrible aggressive person (and I'm autistic, before anyone starts). But the fact is that no crime has been established beyond a reasonable doubt - the prosecution hasn't established the unlawful act that their manslaughter charge hinged on. They should have charged her with assault, which includes aggressive behaviour. Assault it self can carry a 6 month prison sentence.

If she thinks it is at all okay to be violent to someone she thinks is breaking a rule, then she should not have been out unsupervised. Young children are taught you are not to be violent when angry. Unless this is how she was treated as a child by caregivers?

I know. Imagine being the family of someone killed so horribly and seeing all the comments basically saying she deserved it because she was as cycling on a path. Even if she was on a pavement when she shouldn’t be, she didn’t deserve that. And then to sit through all the court stuff. Just devastating.

It is a fair point- sadly the reality is that there are not enough carers and getting one is so f* difficult, you'd not believe it. There is a lady with severe special needs living in our area who defecates in public- the other day police men were wacthing here and no one did anything, they just stared and walked off. And I saw a man on a bus a few times who is violent towards people. Neither have supervision/carer around. The system is broken and people like this need to fend for themselves.
The woman should have been supervised, but carers are not exactly lining up to do this job and social services are iverburdened and useless when ot comes to providing support for disabled kids and adults.

AG is walking right in the middle of the shared path. She gives very little room for the cyclist be anywhere else but in her way. If it’s a shared path, then both users should make room for the other as best they can.

I’m a cyclist and would actually actively avoid a route like that, that has a busy road and an inadequate, narrow shared path. Whilst I try to be considerate of other users, and indeed, many users are considerate of me, there are many people who seem to think it’s ok to hate cyclists and behave inappropriately towards them. On a wide shared path I use often, I sometimes have to physically stop because pedestrians refuse to move to one side and am then treated to huffs and sighs. This is a route marked, and sign posted, as a National Cycle Route.

The cyclist did not deserve to be subjected to verbal intimidation and a potential push into the road. It ended her life.

I wonder if the cyclist saw her and made a split second decision to keep going out of fear? Walking past after the aggression was evident, she may have seen as the riskier option. She would never have expected to be forced into the road.

AG is walking right in the middle of the shared path. She gives very little room for the cyclist be anywhere else but in her way. If it’s a shared path, then both users should make room for the other as best they can.

AG is partially sighted which affects her balance as well. She's doing what's safest for her.

This is why shared pavement paths are so dangerous.

She wouldn’t have been so close if AG hadn’t purposefully moved towards her to confront her 🤷🏻‍♀️

That wasn't firmly established.

Why are you shouting?

Absolutely ludicrous isn't it.

Besides she wasn't scared. I've been startled before by someone on a bike. If you scared you don't charge towards the person screaming "get off the fucking pavement" all while waving your arms and ensuring that the cyclist has no room at all.

It doesn't matter one bit whether the cyclist was allowed on the pavement or not. Celia did not deserve to be verbally abused and forced under a car to her death.

Why the hell do people keep saying that it wasn't established. Even if it wasn't a shared path. Which it was. That poor woman did not deserve to die for riding her bike.

Some of you are genuinely sick through your hatred of cyclist. You should have a long good look at yourselves. I can only think that some of you are as wretched as Grey.

Likely it was the cyclist who was scared, but just wanted to get past and away from her quickly.

Not excusing her, but some people do react with anger when they are frightened. You don't know how AG felt in that moment, with her disabilities it's possible she felt differently to how an abled person might have felt in that moment.

It's horrifying really.

I cycle with my husband and children. We are amateurs so stick to parks and cycle paths.

Round here there are lots of shared paths. Clearly marked and split into cycle and pedestrian. Like in the photo.

You'd be surprise how many people don't realise and tut and huff at you for cycling, on a cycle path. Even though we stop to let people by because they are walking up the cycle lane.

@Roundandroundthegard3n maybe, but I do know that it was Celia, an innocent person who ended up dead. As a direct result of Grey's actions.

Can people imagine for one moment how it would be to die by going in front of a car? Also how the driver feels?

Grey should not be free to walk the streets if this is the way she treats members of the public.

She’s literally caused the death of someone, I really don’t see how that loading up jails.

Any cyclist who chooses to cycle on a pavement close to a pedestrian has impaired judgement of their own. This is not victim blaming, it’s fact. Cars have to leave a massive space between them and any cyclists on the road, so why is it OK for cyclists to cycle so close to pedestrians that they can make contact with each other? Muriel Gray was not physically capable of running unexpectedly into the cyclist’s path, given her major sight and physical disabilities, so the cyclist continuing to cycle directly towards her without dismounting was behaving oddly herself, imvho.