A 50-year-old woman, Auriol Grey, has been granted the opportunity to contest her conviction after being jailed for her involvement in a tragic incident.
On CCTV, Grey was seen waving aggressively at 77-year-old retired midwife Celia Ward, urging her to move from the pavement in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
The confrontation resulted in Mrs Ward falling into the path of an oncoming car, leading to her untimely death in October 2020.
Grey, who lives with cerebral palsy and partial blindness, had denied manslaughter but was found guilty after a retrial, receiving a three-year jail sentence in March of the following year. However, during a recent hearing, three judges at the Court of Appeal granted Grey permission to challenge her conviction.
At the heart of the matter is the charge of unlawful act manslaughter, which necessitates an unlawful action leading to death. Grey’s legal team argued that the jury did not adequately consider such actions during her trial.
Consequently, Dame Victoria Sharp, alongside Mrs Justice Yip and Mr Justice Calver, deemed Grey’s appeal worthy of consideration.
The whole appeal is slated for May, with Grey also having the opportunity to apply for bail. This decision follows a previous Court of Appeal bid by Grey to reduce her sentence, which was rejected in May of last year.
Miranda Moore KC, representing Grey, contended that the sentence was unduly harsh, particularly considering an autism diagnosis secured post-trial, which may have influenced the case’s outcome. However, Mr Justice Griffiths, Lord Justice William Davis, and Judge Neil Flewitt declined to grant permission for an appeal against her sentence, asserting that it was not excessive.
