THE DRIVER OF a car whose friend was seriously injured after she crashed the vehicle while speeding excessively on a narrow country road in Co Wicklow three years ago has escaped a jail sentence.
A sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court last Thursday heard friends of Michaela Dickenson, who were passengers in her car, were begging her to slow down just before the collision.
Dickenson (21) a special needs assistant of Blainroe Crossroads, Blainroe, Co Wicklow pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm on 1 August, 2021.
The incident occurred on a road at Kilmacurragh, Kilbridge, Co Wicklow at around 12.42am as the accused was driving her friends to a party in Wicklow Town.
Garda Damien Fenlon said there were six passengers in Dickenson’s Audi A1 at the time, including four in the rear of the vehicle, none of whom were wearing a seatbelt.
Garda Fenlon said a video taken by one of the rear seat passengers on her phone had shown the accused was driving at 123km/h.
He told the court the road where the accident happened had a speed limit of 80km/h.
The witness said he understood that the vehicle hit a grass verge after coming around a corner and flipped in the air before landing on its roof.
He said Dickenson, who was aged 18 at the time, had told gardaí that a dog or some type of small animal had run out in front of her vehicle.
The court heard all four passengers in the rear seat were brought to St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin for treatment with one of them, Alicia Larkin, suffering serious injuries.
Garda Fenlon told counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL, that Dickenson, who has no previous convictions, had tested negative for alcohol.
He also confirmed that she held a full driving licence and was insured.
Garda Fenlon said another passenger, Conor Crowley, had told gardaí that Dickenson had been trying to do a handbrake turn near the Beehive pub at Coolbeg Crossroads, while also swerving across lanes.
Mr Crowley also recalled that her friends had been shouting at her to slow down.
In a victim impact statement read out in court on her behalf by Mr Kelly, Ms Larkin said she was still impaired by the injuries she had sustained in the crash.
“It was a very frightening experience as I did not know the level of damage,” said Ms Larkin who was aged 17 at the time of the collision.
The court heard she suffered a fractured vertebrae in her neck which caused her severe pain, while her neck had to be immobilised for three months.
Ms Larkin said she was forced to give up her part-time job as well as to stop playing Gaelic football which had affected both her health and social life.
She said the crash had also impacted on her studying for the Leaving Certificate and she had not been able to see her friends.
Ms Larkin said she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after experiencing nightmares and flashbacks of the incident.
She also expressed hope that Dickenson had learnt “a very valuable lesson”.
The court heard related civil proceedings in the case had also been concluded.
Counsel for Dickenson, Edmund Sweetman, BL, said there was no excuse for his client’s behaviour and he accepted it was lucky that nobody was more seriously injured on the night.
“It could have been so much worse,” he remarked.
Mr Sweetman said Dickenson could not really explain what had happened apart from it being “immaturity.”
Pleading for leniency, he claimed she was already being punished with a criminal conviction and an expected disqualification from driving.
Judge Patrick Quinn said it was particularly concerning and a seriously aggravating factor that Dickenson had been asked by her friends to slow down.
Judge Quinn said she had placed six people, including herself, at risk with her driving behaviour.
However, he also acknowledged that none of the usual factors with similar cases like a motorist being uninsured or under the influence of alcohol applied to Dickenson.
The judge sentenced the accused to two years in prison which he suspended in full.
He also disqualified her from driving for a period of six years and ordered that she must re-sit her driving test if she wished to drive a vehicle again at the end of the disqualification period.
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