'It's been really tough': Motorist who tweeted about 'bloody cyclists' after road accident complains SHE'S been the victim of cyber-bullies

A motorist convicted of driving offences after tweeting about a collision with a cyclist has said she was the victim of cyber-bullying because of the post.
Emma Way, 22, from Watton, Norfolk, was found guilty at Norwich Magistrates' Court of failing to stop after a collision and failing to report an accident.
Way refused to comment as she left court yesterday. It later emerged she had signed an exclusive television deal with ITV's Daybreak.

Collision: Emma Way (left) says she has been the victim of cyber-bullying since she tweeted about a collision with cyclist Toby Hockley (right), 29, who said he was 'lucky to be alive' following the crash

Regret: Miss Way described the tweet as her 'biggest regret' and rated it '11 out of 10' on the stupidity scale

Magistrates heard that police only became aware of the collision on May 19 because Miss Way tweeted 'definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier. I have right of way - he doesn't even pay road tax!' using the hashtag #bloodycyclists afterwards.
Cyclist Toby Hockley suffered bruising and minor damage to his bike in the incident near the village of Rockland All Saints, Norfolk.

Appearing on Daybreak this morning, Way said that she regretted the Twitter post but did not believe the collision was her fault. 

'Bloody cyclists' motorist complains SHE'S victim of...

She added: 'It has been really tough. I’ve had malicious communications and the person I’ve been made out to be is as far from who I am as can be.
'I was quite angry about his mannerism and... that he was on my side of the road and it seemed somehow disrespectful.'
'I am only 22 and, not generalising about 22-years-olds or anything, but you sometimes just tweet things you don't actually mean.
'There were lots of retweets, malicious messages and cyber-bulling so it's been quite bad.'

Her solicitor, Simon Nicholls (right), said: 'It can be hard enough at the best of times but when there's an apparent admission on the internet, you have to explain that'

Judgement: Trainee accountant Emma Way, with her solicitor Simon Nicholls , arriving at Norwich Magistrates Court yesterday

Way, who stressed she did not receive a fee for the appearance, was sacked from her job as a trainee accountant with Norwich-based Larking Gowen after the tweet came to light. The court heard she has now got a new job.
She had previously described her tweet as her 'biggest regret' and rated it '11 out of 10' on the stupidity scale.
Her solicitor, Simon Nicholls, added that it had been a difficult case to defend.
'It can be hard enough at the best of times but when there's an apparent admission on the internet, you have to explain that,' he added.
Mr Hockley said he felt the tweet was 'stupid'.

Way described the post as 'my biggest regret' as she was convicted

Mr Hockley said he felt the tweet was 'stupid'
He added: 'It doesn't do much for the mutual respect we should all have for each other on the road.'
Way had about 200 Twitter followers when she sent the message and used to tweet daily.
She has since quit the social networking site.

 

Motorist who knocked down cyclist is to appear on breakfast TV

Confession: This tweet by user Emma Way was met with shock and prompted an investigation by Norfolk police

Magistrate Martin Cliffe fined her £337 and ordered her to pay £300 in costs, also adding seven penalty points to her licence.
She was cleared of a third charge of driving without due care and attention.
Superintendent Dave Marshall, Norwich police district commander, said: ‘Miss Way’s online comments did not represent responsible driving behaviour.’

Mr Hockley (foreground) was approaching the end of a 100-mile race with his friend, Jason Sexton, at the time of the accident