A woman has been jailed for causing bodily harm by “wanton and furious driving” after “flying” around a blind corner on her bicycle with no brakes and knocking over a pedestrian, causing her catastrophic injuries.
Lisa Wade, 46, was drunk, riding one-handed on the pavement and holding a large bag of dog food in her other hand when she ploughed into 64-year-old Ruth Kitching, knocking her off her feet, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Laura McBride said that Mrs Kitching, from York, had been chatting to an acquaintance on a footpath beside the Green Lane roundabout in Acomb when Wade “flew” around the corner at a “furious” speed and knocked her to the ground.
Mrs Kitching suffered catastrophic hip injuries and was laid out in the road during an agonising two-hour wait for an ambulance.
Wade, who remained at the scene, was charged with causing bodily harm by wanton and furious driving – a rare offence under a piece of legislation which dates back to the Victorian era.
The tragic collision occurred on 24 March last year when Wade sped around a blind corner “obstructed by hedging” at a “furious speed”, ploughing into Mrs Kitchen who was “talking to someone on the pavement”.
Mrs Kitching, now 65, was knocked over and fell into the road, but “mercifully” there were other people around who rushed to her aid.
Two hours later, an ambulance arrived and took her to Leeds General Infirmary where she underwent “extensive” surgery to replace her hip and wasn’t discharged from hospital until April.
She also developed pneumonia which had evidently been caused by being laid out on the ground for two hours. When she was finally discharged, she had to rely on crutches until the middle of May.
Her injuries had had a life-changing and “traumatic” effect on her life, family and career.
‘Impaired by alcohol’
Ms McBride said that a police officer at the scene noticed there was “no braking mechanism” on Wade’s bicycle. She was “pacing about” and “smelled of alcohol” but remained at the scene.
Causing bodily harm by wanton and furious driving was an offence first brought into being by legislation introduced in the mid-19th century.
The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 was originally enacted to address the dangers posed by the increasing use of horse-drawn carriages and, subsequently, early motor vehicles, and was designed to protect pedestrians and other road users from “potentially hazardous behaviour by those in control of (non-motorised vehicles)”.
Wade, of Tudor Road, York, admitted the offence and appeared for sentence yesterday (Wednesday).
Ms McBride said that Wade was “highly impaired by alcohol” at the time of the collision and was using one hand to steer a bike with “no working brakes”. She had a long-standing drug and alcohol habit.
In a victim statement read out by the prosecution, Mrs Kitching said it was a long time before she was able to return to full-time work and when she did, she wasn’t able to work to the same capacity.
She was initially housebound, had to rely on friends and family and felt “considerable social isolation”.
She had hoped to work beyond her retirement, which was due to be in September this year to mark her birthday, but due to her injuries this was now in serious doubt.
She said she would carry on working for as long as possible, but “I don’t think I can carry on because of the pain in my hip”. She still “struggled with walking”.
“This accident has made me helpless,” she added.
“I hope one day to be back to full fitness, but I think, with my age against me, this might not be the case.”
Chaotic life
Wade, who led a “somewhat chaotic” life, had a shocking criminal record comprising 137 offences, mainly theft and kindred but also being drunk and disorderly.
Defence barrister Nicholas Hammond said that Wade’s actions were “reckless in the extreme” but she was “genuinely remorseful”.
Recorder Taryn Turner said that Wade’s “furious” riding had led to “tragic” consequences for Mrs Kitchen whose “life… was changed, probably forever”.
She told Wade: “You shouldn’t have been on the pavement and your bike should have been mechanically sound, but it wasn’t.
“You flew round that corner at great speed, one hand steering, and your control of that bike was further impaired by the fact that you were carrying a large bag of dog food in the other hand that was said to have a broken wrist.
“I’m quite satisfied you made a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road and had a total disregard for the risk that your riding of this bike presented (to others), which was obviously highly dangerous.”
She said that Mrs Kitchen would have been “traumatised” and in severe pain waiting for the ambulance and that the accident had had a “dramatic impact” on her life.
She handed Wade an eight-month jail sentence, but the prolific offender will only serve half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.