Oriole Gray: Killer of Huntingdon biker fails to appeal

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By Phil Shipka, John Ironmonger, BBC Media, May 19, 2023, 11:12 GMT

Updated 13 minutes ago

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Oriole Gray, who encountered a cyclist in a Cambridgeshire town, was found guilty of manslaughter after a retrial.

A pedestrian whose actions killed a 77-year-old cyclist when she was angry at her on the sidewalk has failed to appeal her sentence.

Oriole Gray, 49, shouted obscenities and gestured in an “aggressive manner” towards Celia Ward, who fell into the path of a car in Huntingdon in 2020.

Appeals court judges denied her request for leave to appeal.

The two women passed each other in opposite directions on the pavement of the Cambridgeshire Ring Road, on the afternoon of 20 October.

In the CCTV footage, Gray can be heard yelling at Mrs. Ward, a retired midwife, “Get off [expletive] sidewalk “.

The appeals judges said Ms Ward then “hit” Gray and fell into the road, where she was hit by a car.

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Oriole Gray was filmed shouting an expletive at a cyclist in Huntingdon

Her legal team sought to reduce and suspend the sentence.

The Court of Appeal in London heard that, after her imprisonment, a psychiatrist – in a report paid for by Gray’s family – had diagnosed her with autism.

Miranda Moore KS has argued She told Gray, who has cerebral palsy and is partially blind, that the sentence was “excessive” and that the diagnosis might have made a difference to her condition.

She had argued that the sentencing judge had drawn factual findings against the evidence, saying it “came as a shock”, finding the pavement to be a combined ring road, although the local council could not confirm this.

But Judge Griffiths, sitting with Judge William Davis and Judge Neil Flewitt, refused to grant Gray leave to appeal against her sentence, concluding that it was “not manifestly excessive”.

Image source, family newsletter

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Celia Ward and her husband David, pictured left, married in 1967

Ms Ward’s widower, the court heard, said their 50 years of marriage had come to an end in “the most terrifying way”.

In the impact statement, the driver of the car that hit Ms Ward said that “there was always a piece of me that felt guilty” and that her life had been “turned upside down” after the accident.

Judge Griffiths said: “An innocent woman was murdered by an unlawful act [Grey] With a devastating impact on the family she left behind and others including the completely blameless motorist.”

He told the court that the verdict “should indicate the seriousness of the unlawful killing” with mitigating factors in mind.

He said Judge Sean Enright “focused heavily” on Gray’s disabilities.

He added, “We do not consider that the recent Psychology Report calls for a greater reduction than the judge has previously provided in this regard.”

Outside court, Gray’s son-in-law Alisdair Luxmoore expressed his family’s condolences to Mrs. Ward’s family, saying “our actions today should lessen the suffering they have had to endure”.

But he said they were “very sad” about the failed appeal, adding: “We don’t think prison is the right place for someone in Oryol circumstances.”

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CCTV showed an imprisoned woman screaming at a cyclist in Huntingdon

After the hearing, Gray Moore’s attorney told reporters, “The manslaughter law needs to be changed because the perception of danger does not meet the needs of people with mental problems.”

The Department of Justice has been asked to comment.

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