A woman who crashed into a tree in a west Roscommon housing estate causing a serious injury to her daughter has escaped a jail sentence.
The woman failed to give gardaí, who suspected she was drink driving, a breath sample at the scene following the incident in October 2020.
She pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm at Roscommon Circuit Court this week.
Gardai were called to the scene of the crash just after 3am where they discovered a car had driven into a tree. Two daughters of the accused were receiving assistance from neighbours at the scene, and the accused, who was the driver of the vehicle was in an 'agitated' state.
Garda Denise Casserly told the court she got a strong smell of alcohol from the accused and requested a breath sample at the scene, which the 43- year-old refused to provide. She was subsequently arrested for failure to provide a specimen and taken to Castlerea Garda Station where she failed to provide a usable specimen for another Garda.
The court also heard she had no insurance or driving licence and told gardaí when charged 'I don't know what to say, it's all my fault'. Her 11 year old daughter suffered a dislocated pelvis, broke shoulder and broken wrist as a result of the crash and was hospitalised for a total of 18 days.
Judge Keenan Johnson heard when interviewed by gardaí in January of last year, the accused claimed she had gone to a friend's house at 8.30pm and had one glass of wine before borrowing her friend's car and driving home. She also suggested prior to the crash she had tried to turn left but the car went right and was driving at between 40km/h and 60km/h at the time of the crash.
The mother of three told the court directly of her regret at the incident and that she still enjoyed a close relationship with her daughters and revealed she was now in AA for the last 12 months and would agree to any measures the court imposed. The court heard she had ten previous convictions, including one for drink driving and was at a moderate risk of re offending.
Judge Johnson said the injuries suffered by the woman's daughter were not fatal, but could easily have been and he imposed a five year jail term, suspended for seven years subject a number of conditions on the charge of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm. The woman also pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen for which she received a sentence of six months in jail, which will be substituted to 240 hours of community service if she is found to be suitable. She was also disqualified from driving for ten years.
