Maidstone Crown Court, where the case is being heard

by Julia Roberts

A mother-of-two accused of running over a pregnant woman in a road-rage incident told a jury how she was pursued through country lanes by her alleged victim.

Gemma Fraiser, 27, claimed she believed Emma Harrington was trying to ram her car off the road following an earlier clash.

Maidstone Crown Court heard words had been exchanged and a beer can thrown into Miss Harrington’s car when their two vehicles - both Peugeot 206s - could not pass each other in Pilgrim’s Way, Hempstead, just after 8pm on January 14.

Miss Harrington, who was three months’ pregnant at the time, decided to follow Fraiser’s car to get her registration number.

In Fraiser’s car at the time were her partner and her two children aged four and six.

“She was driving exceedingly fast to the stage where I thought she was trying to ram us off the road,” claimed Fraiser.

fraiser's previous conviction

the jury heard fraiser has a previous conviction for common assault following a clash with a shopper in a supermarket car park in gillingham in june last year.

she beeped at the woman pushing her trolley and then slapped her in the face when told she needed anger management.

the victim then stood in front of fraiser’s car as she phoned the police.

“the defendant then drove the car forwards slowly, resulting in a slight impact with the complainant’s legs,” prosecutor jonathan edwards told the crown court.

fraiser denied the offence but was found guilty by north kent magistrates earlier this year.

“From what I remember it was like we were a toy. She would come close, then go back and then come close again.

“My kids were hysterical. They were screaming and crying because they thought she was going to hit us.”

Fraiser, who had been on her way to a family party at a nearby restaurant, said both vehicles eventually stopped in Lidsing Road.

Miss Harrington’s boyfriend then arrived on the scene in another car and began scuffling with Fraiser’s partner in the road.

It is alleged that Fraiser then run down 25-year-old Miss Harrington as she was trying to break up the fight.

But Fraiser, of Coombe Road, Maidstone, said during her evidence that she did not see Miss Harrington in the road or run her over.

She told the court her children were hysterical and she was “absolutely petrified” as her boyfriend was chased by Miss Harrington’s partner.

Fraiser, who denies dangerous driving and assault causing actual bodily harm, said she got back into her car and then drove towards the sound of screaming and yelling.

She added that she knew Miss Harrington had run towards the men but “wasn’t near them”.

“Because I was in such a state I accidentally went up the kerb,” she explained.

“Once I realised I had bumped up the kerb I bumped back down.”

Asked by her barrister, Philip Sinclair, whether she had seen Miss Harrington, Fraiser replied: “I definitely didn’t see her. My kids were screaming and all I wanted to do was save my partner because I felt he might get killed.”

The trial continues.