A man has received a one year suspended jail sentence after he reversed over a 3-year-old girl, leaving her with life changing injuries including a traumatic brain injury.
The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the victim, came to Ireland from Poland over two decades ago and hitherto had a “blameless” record.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing serious bodily harm contrary to the Road Traffic Act.
Judge Martin Nolan heard that on the 17th of May 2022, the little girl was outside her home playing on a scooter when the accused, her next door neighbour, attempted to reverse his vehicle into his driveway.
As the man did this the child traveled on her scooter behind the vehicle on the left passenger side and was knocked down.
Hearing a “scream” and feeling an impact, the driver applied the brakes for approximately 4 seconds before reversing again, whereupon he ran over the child who was lying on the ground after the initial impact.
The man said he believed the impact had been caused by poor tyre pressure.
When he got out of the vehicle he noticed blood on the ground before seeing the little girl under the car.
The court heard that the man was seen on a doorbell camera putting his hands to his head and could be heard exclaiming, “Oh my God,” before he went to the child’s parents to alert them.
When emergency services arrived, the little girl “wasn’t breathing” and had “no pulse”, the court heard.
She was taken to Temple Street Hospital where she remained for some time where it was determined that she had suffered injuries causing her to lose the sight in her left eye.
Detective Sergeant David Sharkey of Blanchardstown Garda station told the court that the little girl sustained “serious injuries” and that she is now “different from a normal child” of her age in terms of her cognitive ability and her mobility.
The child, whose parents were in court, will require specialist care for the rest of her life, and it remains unclear what educational supports will be necessary.
Despite this the child is “In good spirits”, Detective Sharkey said.
Footage of the incident taken from the doorbell camera of the accused was shown to Judge Nolan, which the man’s defending counsel described as “harrowing”.
The court heard that the man has no previous conviction and that the maximum sentence for the offending is two years.
Judge Nolan said that the effects on the child were “devastating” and that civil proceedings would naturally follow the criminal case.
He said that the child will require “very intensive care”, has “permanent deficits” and will never be able to achieve her “full potential”.
He commented that the incident was a “nightmare” for her family which “still continues”.
Noting the lack of previous offending and the “genuine expressions of remorse”, he imposed a one year custodial sentence which was suspended for one year, saying that the accused is “highly unlikely” to reoffend.
Judge Nolan expressed “sympathies” to the parents, adding that the “court is saddened” by what happened.
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