Paul Lyon-Maris leaves Southwark Crown Court
(Picture: PA Wire)A theatrical agent accused of driving for 65ft with a YouTube cycling activist on the bonnet of his Range Rover has been cleared of assault and dangerous driving.
Paul Lyon-Maris, 60, the agent for stars including Oscar-winner Colin Firth and Lord Of The Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen, encountered Mike van Erp at a road junction next to Regent’s Park.
He was accused of losing his temper and driving into Mr van Erp for being challenged over driving on the wrong side of the road.
But in his evidence to Southwark crown court, Mr Lyon-Maris said the activist had “jumped” on to his bonnet and he had driven forward to get out of the way of other traffic.
At the end of a four-day trial, a jury found the top talent agent not guilty of dangerous driving and assault.
Mr van Erp, 50, is a well-known activist who goes by CyclingMikey on social media, taking videos of bad driving to post on YouTube and challenging motorists for breaking the law.
The incident at the centre of the trial happened on September 9 last year, at a junction nicknamed ‘Gandalf Corner’ over Mr van Erp’s routine blocking of the way for illegal drivers.
When Mr Lyon-Maris allegedly pulled out of a queue of traffic, drove on the wrong side of the road, and tried to take an illegal right turn, the activist stepped into his path.
Mr Lyon-Maris admitted the driving offence and was fined, but strenously denied ever hitting Mr van Erp with his car during the ensuing confrontation.
He was late for a physiotherapy appointment at the time, and was heard shouting “get out of the way” as his path through the no-right-turn junction was blocked by Mr van Erp who filmed the encounter.
“He stepped out right in front of me”, said the agent, in his evidence. “At which point I applied the brake and stopped in front of him.
“I didn’t know who he was, what he was trying to do. He was waving his arms and in his hand he had a long stick.
“Being met with this rather intimidating figure, I came up with something I thought might calm the situation and I said I’m on my way to a doctor’s appointment.
“I said it specifically because I thought it was a calming thing to say to someone you don’t know who has stepped out in front of you, waving their arms around and holding a stick.
“He then, with his stick, banged it down on the windscreen. At which point I said ‘what the hell? What’s going on. What are you doing?
“Before I knew it, he was on my bonnet.”
Mr van Erp, who has caught out celebrities in the past, denied jumping on to the bonnet and said he was struck by the car.
“He fell on it, jumped on it, he was suddenly on it”, said Mr Lyon-Maris.
“I’m not used to having people jump on my bonnet in a public highway. I had to make a decision about what to do. It’s right to say it was a time when everyone’s nerves were heightened, Covid was still an issue. There’s a stranger on the bonnet with a stick in his hand, without any clarity of what he was doing.
“I did decide very slowly to move forward and out of the way of any traffic.”
Video footage caught on Mr Van Erp’s GoPro head camera and selfie stick appeared to show him being carried on the bonnet for some 65ft.
He told jurors he fell on to the vehicle “like a crash test dummy” when Mr Lyon-Maris drove at him twice before turning a corner and coming to a stop around 20 yards after the junction.
He told the court he stops illegal turns by motorists to protect other road users, including pedestrians and cyclist, likening his actions to taking the keys of a car from a drunk driver.
The agent, a director at Independent Talent Group, which boasts clients including James Bond star Daniel Craig, told jurors he felt “intimidated” when Mr Van Erp “jumped” on his bonnet.
Mr Lyon-Maris, from Belsize Park, north-west London, denied dangerous driving and common assault and was acquitted of both offences by a jury after three hours and 51 minutes of deliberations on Thursday.
