A theatrical agent, who jumped a traffic queue in his Range Rover and carried a well-known cycling campaigner on his bonnet, has been cleared of dangerous driving and assault.
Paul Jerome Lyon-Maris, 60, was on his way to an appointment in heavy morning rush hour traffic at 8.25am when he ignored a ‘Keep Left’ sign and was blocked by Michael Van Erp, 50.
The jury at Southwark Crown Court were played video the Dutch cycling campaigner recorded on his GoPro camera in which he is heard shouting: “Why are you driving into me?”
Lyon-Maris, of Wychcombe Studios, England Lane, Hampstead was seen pointing at his watch as his partner of 33 years shouted about an appointment.
He was found not guilty of driving his grey two-litre Range Rover Velar dangerously on September 9, last year in Outer Circle, Regent’s Park.
Lyon-Maris was also found not guilty of assaulting professional carer Mr Van Erp, who has a popular YouTube channel called ‘CyclingMikey’.
Lyon-Maris admitted to the jury he ignored the ‘Keep Left’ arrow and overtook a line of queuing cars on the wrong side of the road so he could look for a parking place for his physio appointment.
“For a while I sat in that traffic. The problem for a driver is the traffic lights are very quick to change, only four or five cars at a time.
“Mindful of the fact I had an appointment with my physio I thought I might go down the right side of that road where there was a lot of parking.”
Van Erp’s video shows Lyon-Maris overtaking the line of cars for approximately 200 yards on the wrong side of the road.
“It was clear and I thought I would park in the bay at the end because the road was clear, I could see, to go around the wrong side of the arrow,” explained Lyon-Maris.
“I decided I was going to go the wrong way around that the blue arrow and at that point a man stepped out in front of the car right in front of me at which point I applied the brakes and stopped.
“I did not know who he was or what he wanted to do. He was waving an arm and in his hand had a long stick.
“Having been met by this intimidating figure I said something that I thought would calm the situation: ‘I’m on my way to a medical appointment.’
“He then, with his stick, banged it down on the windscreen and I said: ‘What the hell? What’s going on? What are you doing?’ and before I knew it he was on my bonnet, fell on it, jumped on it.
“He was all of a sudden on my bonnet. All I was saying was: ‘Please get out of the way.’
“I am not used to people jumping on my bonnet on the public highway and had to decide what to do.
“Tension was heightened during Covid and there was a stranger with a stick in his hand.
“I moved very slowly out of the way of any traffic and pulled over. He was at that point calling the police on his watch.
“I did not know what this man was doing, but that I could pull in once I got around the corner. He is clinging on and I am slowly going around.”
Lyon-Maris’s partner of 33 years, Robin Muir, got out and challenged Van Erp, the trial heard.
“Robin was saying: ‘Please get off the bonnet.’ I was saying: ‘Robin leave it, get back in the car.’
“I was surprised and a little intimidated,” he added, denying he was angry during the incident.
When cross-examined the defendant insisted: “He was not rational at the time. I thought I was being totally rational.”
The video records Lyon-Maris waving his arms at Van Erp, but he denied this was in anger.
“If I was gesticulating that was not aggressive, that was a way of expressing myself. I am not a person who becomes enraged.
“I can’t go backwards because that’s turning away from the man on my bonnet. I can’t go left so my instinct was to move slowly around the corner and out of the way.
“When someone jumps on your bonnet you have a moment to decide what to do.
“He was clenched on the bonnet of the car, you can see his fingers, they were fixed. He was hooked on and I decided to move very slowly so he would not flip off.
“It is not a safe thing for someone to jump onto your bonnet without reason and his reason was not clear.
“I did not move forward and he jumped onto the bonnet, stepped back and then jumped onto the bonnet again.”
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