A witness described how he heard sounds like a car going over speed bumps and “dragging” when a young woman drove over her girlfriend when a game they were playing went terribly wrong.
Lana Dowling (21) of Shanganagh Cliffs, Shankill, Co. Dublin pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm in respect of her then girlfriend, who suffered extensive injuries, including a dislocated pelvis, two broken legs, a cranial fracture, a broken arm, and a brain injury.
Garda Lee O’Donoghue, who is stationed in Dún Laoighre, agreed with Rebecca Smith BL prosecuting, that he had answered a call about an accident at Shanganagh Cliffs, Shankill, on the 24th of October 2024.
Garda O’Donoghue arrived on the scene 10 minutes later and saw a woman trapped under a Nissan Micra with blood coming from her head, which had begun to pool on the ground.
Judge Martin Nolan heard that the woman was “In serious distress, screaming for help” and was lying chest down on the ground with her legs twisted around 180 degrees.
While paramedics assisted the young woman, Garda O’Donoghue took photos of the scene and spoke to Lana Dowling, who admitted that she had been driving the car. She said she was “joking and messing” with the injured party, who was sitting on the bonnet of the car as she revved it forward.
The court heard that at a certain point, the injured party had said, “No, seriously, stop, I’m going to fall off!” before she fell off the car and went under it.
A witness, who was working from home, when he noticed what was happening, said he saw a young woman holding onto the passenger side of the car, but that he could not tell if she was standing or falling. He said he saw her go down before he heard a sound that was like the car going over two speed bumps in quick succession.
He said he heard a “dragging sound” before the driver stopped the car by pulling the handbrake, which made the vehicle jolt forward.
Dowling, who was on a provisional license at the time, tested negative for drugs or alcohol on the day of the incident.
The witness said he heard Dowling say, “My girlfriend, my girlfriend!” and “I’m so sorry”. He said he saw Dowling get out of the car and go to the back of the vehicle, but when he asked her if someone was underneath, she wouldn’t answer.
When Dowling was interviewed by Gardaí, she said she didn’t know how fast she was going and couldn’t say how far she had driven.
In her victim impact statement, the injured party said her life had been turned “upside down” and that she was “in so much pain”.
She said that much of what had happened was a blank and that while she will never be the same again, “Lana lives her life to the best, still drives the same car” while she was “left to die”.
She spoke about how helpless she felt in the hospital and how it was “not something I like to talk about” as she “had to wear nappies’ and let the nurse wash and clean her when she went to the toilet.
The young woman said she heard the machines “beeping” and thought she was going to die, and described asking the nurses to help hide the tubes when her little sister was coming to see her so she wouldn’t be scared by them.
She said she is “unable to walk without help” and that “one leg is now shorter” than the other.
The injured party also said that she now feels anger at everyone and that “One moment of carelessness has cost me my life.”
“I’ve started to hate how I look” because of “the scars”, she said.
Gerardine Small Sc, defending, argued that Ms Dowling was 19 at the time and is “truly sorry” and that there was “no malice intended”.
She argued that her client had gone to the hospital every day for six weeks; however, Garda O’Donoghue said that he could not confirm if this was accurate, but was aware that Dowling had visited the injured party very often.
Ms Small said that her clients’ actions were a “terrible error in judgment” that caused a “serious and life-altering situation” and that she understood how difficult the victim’s life was after the accident and for her family.
Judge Nolan asked Ms Small what she had to say about the fact that her client was driving unaccompanied with a provisional license, to which she answered, “No doubt that it shouldn’t have happened.”
“What she did was reckless and stupid,” Judge Nolan said.