4x4 driver tried to mow down cyclist and ploughed into hair salon

A New Malden woman has been found guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm after a jury ruled that she deliberately tried to drive her Audi Q7 4x4 into an autistic cyclist with whom she had been arguing. Witnesses described seeing the victim roll over the bonnet of the car before it smashed through the window of a hair salon.

The Surrey Comet reports that Natalie Pyne got out of her car and had an argument with cyclist Simon Edgley after an alleged near miss between the two. Anna Best, who had been waiting at a junction next to the salon, said that Edgeley “was kicking the car in quite a comical manner” and that a teenage boy in the Audi shouted at him. It is said that there were at least four children in the car.

After Edgley started to cycle off, Best said Pyne reversed before driving towards him and into the Park Salon in Park Road.

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Another witness, Louisa Morris, who had been in her parents’ house opposite at the time of the crash, said she remembered hearing loud revs of an engine and then tyres squealing. "The cyclist was hit by the front of the car and pushed off his bike. He rolled over the bonnet coming off the side."

Aftermath of road rage in Kingston. Woman allegedly drove at rider, missed, ended up in house. @roadcc #cycling pic.twitter.com/vcsfQW5UM2

— Stuart Forrest (@MrStuartForrest) June 7, 2014

Pyne claimed her 4x4 malfunctioned before she clipped Edgley and went through the bay window of the salon, causing more than £25,000 worth of damage. In a statement taken by police after the accident and read out by prosecutor James Lofthouse, Pyne said she had been having problems with the car and felt threatened by Edgley’s behaviour.

However, traffic officer PC Peter Traylor said he could find “no fault” with the car, saying: “I tried lots of different scenarios to try and [get the car] to do what the lady had told us it had done. The car's fail safe system would not let me do it.”

Lofthouse said: “What happened was road rage. [Pyne] intended to cause Mr Edgley very serious harm. She was reckless.”

Pyne was found guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving and damaging property to the value of more than £5,000 and will be sentenced on November 6 at Kingston Crown Court.

Jon Fray of the Kingston Cycling Campaign commented:

"I am not experienced in law but I suppose the police picked the charge of attempted GBH because they thought that is the one that would stick. I have some sympathy for people who think it should have been a harsher [charge.] 

“All I know is it could have been a lot worse for the cyclist involved. It is not all cyclists versus motorists on the road and thankfully these incidents happen very rarely."