Mother driving children in 4x4 ‘rammed cyclist and smashed into salon in road rage row’

Guilty: Natalie Pyne, 31
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A mother with a car full of children mounted the pavement, deliberately ran into a cyclist, and demolished the front of a beauty salon in a road rage row, a court heard.

Natalie Pyne, 31, was driving at least four children in her three-litre Audi Q7 when she cut up Simon Edgely, causing him to bump into the rear of the vehicle, the jury was told.

Kingston crown court heard that Mr Edgely kicked the car twice and the pair had a screaming match in the middle of the busy road. Prosecutor James Lofthouse said: “She got back in and chose to drive deliberately, in anger, at Mr Edgely, knocking him off his bike, with the car carrying on and ploughing into the shop.”

A witness saw the cyclist roll over the bonnet of the white 4x4, and heard Pyne shouting “shut up” at her crying children after the car came to rest in the wreckage of the salon in Park Road, Kingston.

The row took place on June 7 last year after Pyne had just left a park where the children had been playing. “What happened was a road rage incident,” said Mr Lofthouse. “Mr Edgely remonstrated and kicked her vehicle and she got out and remonstrated with him.”

Frances Teague, who was in the car behind, told the court: “The driver got out and they were shouting with hands flinging at each other, but there was no contact.

“The lady got back in and the cyclist was leaning down and shouting through the window and kicked the passenger side of the car. He then got on his bike and cycled off on the pavement.

Cyclist Simon Edgeley
Alex Lentati

“The Audi was revving and just zoomed off in the same direction as the cyclist. It shot off quickly and turned to the left very fast.

“I saw the cyclist’s head and then it disappeared. A parked van juddered as if it had been hit and the car went straight into the building.” Mr Edgely was not seriously injured and was said to have got “up and walked around in a daze. He was agitated”.

Mr Lofthouse told the jury: “By driving at him deliberately and knocking him off she intended to cause Mr Edgely very serious harm. By driving into the front of the salon she was reckless about the collateral damage, and her driving over that short period was very dangerous indeed.” The crash caused £20,000 damage to the salon. “She also caused substantial damage to a silver Mercedes Sprinter van that was parked,” said Mr Lofthouse.

When questioned by police Pyne claimed it was an accident beyond her control. “She said she had children in the car and was panicking because the car would not start, and an involuntary motion caused it to lurch onto the pavement,” added the prosecutor.

“The lurch on to the pavement was not caused by an involuntary movement. She got back into the car, in anger, the red mist descended and she chose to drive into Mr Edgely.”

The court heard after the car smashed into the salon more than £26,000-worth of damage was done in what traffic expert Met PC Peter Traylor told the court was "a significant front end impact".

The officer confirmed to the court in evidence read out by prosecutor James Lofthouse that "both front head lamps were smashed, both front wings crushed, the bonnet also crumpled backwards, [and] the offside front wing lost attachment.

"The crash extended to the front doors so they could not open. The front panels had been displaced into the engine compartment causing damage to the power steering. Its front bumper was missing."

The court also heard the car Pyne was driving would have failed an MOT because the "front tyres were worn below the legal limit". However, it was stressed this was "not contributary" to the incident.

PC Traylor said: "It is a very powerful vehicle, a 3-litre turbo diesel. It's quite a powerful machine."

Another witness told the court: "There was lots of debris everywhere. I went up to the female and she told me that she was sorry."

Pyne, of New Malden, denies attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving, and criminal damage. The trial continues.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in