N25 crash left victims with serious injuries
The case was heard at Waterford Courthouse.
A woman has been sentenced for dangerous driving causing serious injuries.
Amy Lenihan (38), of Tialusso, Ballyvalican, Portlaw, pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
On July 11, 2020, she was driving a white Dacia car on the N25 towards Waterford when the car moved on to the opposite lane and collided head on with an oncoming vehicle.
The injured party were a couple who were driving away from Waterford. The man was driving the car and sustained serious injuries. The woman was in the passenger seat. She received severe injuries and has suffered irrevocable life changes. The court heard how the male driver could smell burning in his car after the collision. The woman was in and out of consciousness and had difficulty breathing. She was quickly brought to University Hospital Waterford with severe abdominal damage. She had a broken sternum and had sustained damage to her small intestine.
A fellow driver on the road that day gave evidence to Gardaí, describing how he was driving 100km/h on the road when the white Dacia overtook him. Moments later, he witnessed the car collision and called for the emergency services.
In an earlier victim impact statement, the woman expressed how the incident effectively ruined her chances of having children with her husband. She has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is terrified to travel in a car, either as a driver or passenger or to walk on a pedestrian footpath. The incident has had an extremely negative impact on the couple's marriage. She said that her 'whole life was turned upside down by Ms Lenihan's negligence'.
She stated: "I will never forget this horrific incident, I will never feel safe on the road again.
"I'm extremely anxious and scared for the future. I lost the chance to become a mother."
Defence counsel Gareth Hayden BL expressed the huge remorse felt by his client. He explained that his client had been working 12 hour days at a HSE facility at the height of the pandemic, and was mentally and physically exhausted at the time. She had cut short her maternity leave to go back to work and was caring for her infant child.
The court heard that she was a single mother to two young children who depend solely on her. He said that she was a 'hard-working and law-abiding woman'.
Judge O'Kelly sentenced her to 240 hours of community service, in lieu of a 2 ½ years prison sentence. She was disqualified from driving for four years.
