A pedestrian whose actions killed a 77-year-old cyclist who was riding on the pavement is to appeal her manslaughter conviction.
Auriol Grey, 50, shouted an expletive and gestured aggressively towards Celia Ward, who then fell in front of a car, in Cambridgeshire in 2020.
Grey, of Bradbury Place, Huntingdon, was jailed for three years in 2023.
Court of Appeal judges gave the go-ahead for her to appeal her conviction at a hearing in London earlier.
Judges had dismissed her previous application for leave to appeal her sentence in May last year, saying it was “not arguably manifestly excessive”.
The incident which led to the death of Mrs Ward, a 77-year-old grandmother from Wyton, near Huntingdon, happened during the afternoon of 20 October 2020.
The two women passed each other in opposite directions on the pavement of Huntingdon’s ring road.
In CCTV footage, Grey could be heard shouting at Mrs Ward, a retired midwife, to “get off the [expletive] pavement”.
At her trial, prosecutor Simon Spence KC said the defendant was “angered by the presence of a cyclist on a footpath” and gestured towards Mrs Ward, who fell into the path of a car.
Mrs Ward died at the scene.
The trial heard Grey had cerebral palsy and was partially sighted, but Judge Sean Enright said: “These actions are not explained by disability.”
Grey was found guilty and was jailed for three years in March 2023.
But at a hearing on Tuesday, three judges at the Court of Appeal gave Grey the go-ahead to challenge her conviction.
The court in London heard Grey was charged with unlawful act manslaughter, which requires that an unlawful action takes place to cause death.
However, her lawyers told appeal judges that no such action was considered by the jury at Grey’s trial.
Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Mrs Justice Yip and Mr Justice Calver, said Grey’s appeal could be heard.
“We are satisfied that the ground of appeal now advanced is arguable,” Dame Victoria said.
The full appeal is expected to be heard in May, with Grey also able to make a bid to be released on bail.
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