A lady who, impaired by a cocktail of cocaine and prescribed medicine, left a Co Armagh couple with important bodily and psychological trauma following a horrific head-on collision exterior Portadown prepare station has been jailed.
Hollie Coleman, with an deal with in Cloneen, Dungannon, appeared within the dock at Craigavon Crown Court docket on Wednesday after pleading responsible to 2 counts of inflicting grievous bodily damage by harmful driving.
The 29-year-old was additionally sentenced for driving whereas disqualified, driving when unfit by drink or medicine, having no insurance coverage, and aggravated taking and inflicting injury to a car.
The courtroom heard that on Saturday, September 18, at round 10am, one girl – who gave a witness assertion – mentioned she was doing her buying at Asda in Portadown when “I noticed a lady within the automobile with the music taking part in very loud”.
The lady – Coleman – was “slumped over the wheel and seemed to be asleep which was unusual”.
She added: “I went into Asda and did my searching for roughly half-hour. I went again to the automobile park and the woman was nonetheless slumped over the wheel asleep. I opened the door of the automobile to see if the woman was okay however she wouldn’t get up. One other woman approached to assist. We finally woke the lady up and she or he bought irate with us saying she wanted to go to Asda. We mentioned she was however she mentioned she wasn’t and drove off.”
At this level one of many girls phoned the police however the warning was too late to “keep away from the implications of the defendant’s actions”, mentioned His Honour Choose Patrick Lynch KC.
What occurred subsequently was described by the victims on this case – a husband and spouse travelling alongside the Northway in the direction of Craigavon that morning.
The husband acknowledged: “[We were] passing Portadown prepare station and a silver color car veered throughout the central white strains into my lane and crashed head on into my car. It occurred so shortly I had no time to react or to keep away from it. My car spun spherical and was dealing with in the other way.”
One other witness, who was additionally driving on the highway at the moment, was sitting within the driver’s seat of his car on the bus cease exterior the prepare station, dealing with the course of Lurgan.
He mentioned: “I seemed in entrance of me and noticed a silver Audi driving in the direction of me on the fallacious facet of the highway. The motive force was a feminine with brown hair; [the car] skimmed the facet of my car earlier than colliding with the pink Corsa.”
This witness was not injured however was in a state of shock.
The couple within the Corsa sustained important bodily accidents, in addition to the psychological trauma.
The male suffered a fractured sternum which meant he “couldn’t hug my nieces and nephews”. He needed to have his mattress moved downstairs and he’s now anxious about getting right into a a automobile. He has recurring nightmares. Each he and his spouse have suffered monetary hardship having needed to take six months off work – his spouse longer.
She suffered a damaged leg, elbow, wrist and hand – all on her left facet.
In a sufferer influence assertion she thought “we have been going to be killed; my rapid ideas have been with my youngsters at dwelling”.
Choose Lynch outlined how Coleman had taken cocaine the night time earlier than the incident and {that a} “cocktail of cocaine and prescribed medicine impaired her determination making” the subsequent morning.
He added: “Regardless of being a disqualified driver she made a premeditated determination to take her associate’s mom’s motorized vehicle and drove it to Asda in Portadown. She remembers leaving Asda together with her bought gadgets however her subsequent reminiscence was waking up when the RTC had occurred. She was horrified when she realised she prompted the accidents to the opposite individuals.”
Choose Lynch referenced a pre-sentence report which alluded to the truth that Coleman had a son who had died from a cot loss of life seven years in the past.
He continued: “His tragic loss of life has had a big impact upon her psychological well being, alcohol use and subsequent offending behaviour. Her prison report began seven years in the past in 2016, coinciding together with her child’s loss of life.”
He learn that “after her son died, her world fell aside”, however concluded that “residual trauma isn’t an excuse for her behaviour”.
Coleman was handed a 40-month jail sentence, with half of the time period to be spent on licence, the opposite half in custody.
She was additionally disqualified from driving for 3 years.
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