Jail for speeder who caused ‘catastrophic’ injuries to teenager

A north Belfast woman who caused “catastrophic and lifelong injuries” to a schoolboy she knocked down in her Audi TTS has been jailed.
The collision occurred near the Antrim Road/Ballyclare Road junctionThe collision occurred near the Antrim Road/Ballyclare Road junction
The collision occurred near the Antrim Road/Ballyclare Road junction

Megan Anderson admitted causing the teenager grievous bodily injury by dangerous driving in Glengormley in October 2017. He was 14 at the time of the collision and sustained multiples injuries including a traumatic brain injury.

Belfast Crown Court heard he will require 24-hour care for the rest of his life.

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Anderson (25), from Robina Street in Belfast, was handed an 18-month sentence divided equally between nine months in custody and nine on licence. She was also banned from driving for two years.

Before passing sentence, Judge Patricia Smyth heard that Anderson had been sitting at traffic lights on the Antrim Road at the junction of the Ballyclare Road. She was the first in the queue of traffic when the lights turned green, and after accelerating, she hit the teenager as he crossed the road.

In the aftermath of the collision - which occurred at around 4.40pm on October 18, 2017 - a road expert determined she was driving at speeds of up to 59 mph in a 30 mph zone. Witnesses also reported that her car was ‘revving loudly and accelerating heavily’ before she drove from the lights ‘very quickly.’

Prosecuting barrister David Russell said the teenager’s mother spoke to her son just moments before the collision, when he told her he was going to the shop. She then heard the emergency services on the Antrim Road and ran to the scene. Mr Russell said the teenager sustained “catastrophic and lifelong injuries.”

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Regarding the offence Anderson pleaded guilty to, Mr Russell said she was “driving at a greatly excessive speed in a built-up area”, that she “accelerated from the traffic lights at speed”, and that she “didn’t appear to brake prior to the collision.”

The prosecutor said Anderson had no previous convictions or motoring offences, and co-operated fully with the investigation.

Defence barrister Eilis McDermott QC said her client accepted the collision was caused by her speed.

Ms McDermott said: “She is riven with remorse. At the forefront of her mind is not her fate but the catastrophic consequences of her actions for this young man, his mother and the wider family.”

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Anderson’s barrister said the incident has had a significant impact on her mental health.

Ms McDermott said Anderson “wishes she had died in the accident” instead of causing the injuries to the teenager that she did.

During sentencing, Judge Smyth said: “There are no words to describe the catastrophe that occurred”’

Describing the injured teenager as a young man who had a full future ahead of him, the Judge said that due to his injuries it was “unlikely that he will ever be able to carry out even the basic tasks for himself” and will remain reliant on carers.

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Judge Smyth said he “has an awareness ... he can see, he can hear and he can communicate his likes and dislikes in his own way on picture cards.”

Turning to Anderson, Judge Smyth said, “you are a young woman of good character who never intended to hurt anyone” but said her driving fell below the standard of any careful and competent driver.

Judge Smyth concluded by saying a custodial sentence was necessary to act as a deterrent. Judge Smyth said: “Anyone who drives dangerously, even for a matter of seconds, and causes serious injury or death as a consequence, will go to prison - regardless or their previous good character or mitigation.”